a

GAO

United States Government Accountability Office

Report to Congressional Committees

November 2005 MILITARY 

PERSONNEL

DOD Needs Action 

Plan to Address 

Enlisted Personnel 

Recruitment and 

Retention Challenges

GAO-06-134
What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

November 2005

MILITARY PERSONNEL

DOD Needs Action Plan to Address 

Enlisted Personnel Recruitment and 

Retention Challenges 

Highlights of GAO-06-134, a report to 

congressional committees 

DOD’s active, reserve, and National Guard components met most aggregate 

recruiting and retention goals for enlisted personnel from fiscal years (FY) 

2000-2004. However, for FY 2005, 5 of 10 components—the Army, Army 

Reserve, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, and Navy Reserve—

missed their recruiting goals by 8 to 20 percent. Most of the components met 

their aggregate retention goals for FY 2000-2004, but the Navy experienced 

shortages in FY 2005 of up to 8 percent. Also, factors such as the shrinking 

numbers of new recruits in delayed entry programs and the use of stop loss, 

which delays servicemembers from leaving active duty, indicate that the 

components may experience future recruiting challenges. 

All components exceeded authorized personnel levels for some occupational 

specialties and did not meet others. Specifically, GAO found that 19 percent 

of DOD’s 1,484 occupational specialties were consistently overfilled and 41 

percent were consistently underfilled from FY 2000-2005. While the 

components offered reasons why occupational specialties may be over- or 

underfilled, GAO believes that consistently over- and underfilled 

occupational specialties are a systemic problem for DOD that raises two 

critical questions. First, what is the cost to the taxpayer to retain thousands 

more personnel than necessary in consistently overfilled occupational 

specialties? Second, how can DOD components continue to effectively 

execute their mission with consistently underfilled occupational specialties? 

In FY 2005, almost 31,000 more servicemembers than authorized served in 

occupational specialties that have been consistently overfilled. GAO 

determined that it costs the federal government about $103,000 annually, on 

average, to compensate each enlisted active duty servicemember in FY 2004. 

In contrast, DOD was unable to fill over 112,000 positions in consistently 

underfilled occupational specialties, raising concerns about the validity of 

the authorized personnel levels. DOD requires the active components to 

report on critical occupational specialties for recruiting and retention, which 

amounts to at most 16 percent of their 625 specialties. However, DOD does 

not require them to report on their noncritical occupational specialties, and

does not require the reserve or National Guard components to report on any 

of their 859 specialties. Consequently, DOD does not have the necessary

information to develop an effective plan to address the root causes of the 

components’ recruiting and retention challenges. 

DOD has taken steps to enhance recruiting and retention, but lacks 

information on financial incentives provided for certain occupational 

specialties. GAO found that the components offered financial incentives to 

servicemembers in consistently overfilled occupational specialties. 

However, because DOD only requires the components to provide minimal 

justification for their use of financial incentives, it lacks the information 

needed to provide assurance to the Secretary of Defense, Congress, and the 

taxpayer that the increasing amount of funding spent on recruiting and 

retention is appropriately and effectively targeted to occupational specialties 

for which the components have the greatest need. 

The Department of Defense (DOD)

must recruit and retain hundreds of

thousands of servicemembers each 

year to carry out its missions, 

including providing support in 

connection with events such as

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In

addition to meeting legislatively 

mandated aggregate personnel

levels, each military component 

must also meet its authorized 

personnel requirements for each 

occupational specialty. DOD

reports that over half of today’s 

youth cannot meet the military’s 

entry standards for education, 

aptitude, health, moral character, 

or other requirements, making

recruiting a significant challenge. 

GAO, under the Comptroller

General’s authority (1) assessed the 

extent to which DOD’s active,

reserve, and National Guard 

components met their enlisted

aggregate recruiting and retention

goals; (2) assessed the extent to

which the components met their

authorized personnel levels for

enlisted occupational specialties;

and (3) analyzed the steps DOD has

taken to address recruiting and 

retention challenges. 

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making recommendations 

that require (1) components to

report more information on

occupational specialties, and 

(2) DOD to develop a management

plan to address recruitment and

retention challenges. DOD partially

concurred with GAO’s 

recommendations. 

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-134.

To view the full product, including the scope 

and methodology, click on the link above. 

For more information, contact Derek Stewart 

at (202) 512-5559 or stewartd@gao.gov. 
Page i GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Contents

Letter 1

Results in Brief 3

Background 6

DOD’s Components Met Most Aggregate Recruiting and Retention 

Goals in the Past 6 Fiscal Years, but Recent Trends Prompt 

Concerns 8

Components Have Exceeded Authorized Personnel Levels for Some 

Occupational Specialties and Experienced Shortages 

in Others 17

DOD Has Taken Steps to Enhance Recruiting and Retention Efforts, 

but Limited Information Makes It Difficult to Determine Financial 

Incentives’ Effectiveness 24

Conclusions 35

Recommendations for Executive Action 36

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 37

Appendixes

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology 41

Appendix II: Enlisted Aggregate Recruiting Goals and Achievements for 

Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005 44

Appendix III: Active Duty Enlisted Aggregate Retention Goals and 

Achievements for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005 46

Appendix IV: Active, Reserve, and National Guard Components’ 

Consistently Over- and Underfilled Occupational 

Specialties 48

Appendix V: Comments from the Department of Defense 132

Appendix VI: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 136

Tables Table 1: Percentage of Active Duty Enlisted Aggregate Recruiting 

Goals Met for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005 8

Table 2: Percentage of Reserve Component Enlisted Aggregate 

Recruiting Goals Met for Fiscal Years 2000 through 

2005 10

Table 3: Percentage of Active Duty Enlisted Aggregate Retention 

Goals Met for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005 12

Table 4: Percentage of Reserve and National Guard Enlisted 

Aggregate Attrition Goals and Achievements for Fiscal 

Years 2000 through 2005 13
Contents

Page ii GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 5: Percentage of Consistently Overfilled and Underfilled 

Active and Reserve Enlisted Occupational Specialties for 

Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005 19

Table 6: Examples of Reasons for Consistently Over- or Underfilled 

Occupational Specialties as Reported by Component 

Officials 21

Table 7: OUSD’s Criteria for Determining Occupational Specialties 

That Are Critical for Recruiting and Retention 23

Table 8: Number of Recruiters by Component 30

Table 9: Number of Consistently Overfilled Occupational 

Specialties for Which Active Duty Servicemembers 

Received Enlistment Bonuses, Selective Reenlistment 

Bonuses, or Both for 5 or 6 Years from 2000 through 

2005 34

Table 10: Number of Overfilled Occupational Specialties for Which 

Active Duty Servicemembers Received Bonuses from 2000 

through 2005 34

Table 11: Organizations and Offices Contacted during Our 

Review 41

Table 12: Active Components’ Enlisted Aggregate Recruiting Goals 

and Achievements for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005 44

Table 13: Reserve and National Guard Components’ Enlisted 

Aggregate Recruiting Goals and Achievements for Fiscal 

Years 2000 through 2005 45

Table 14: Army’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties 48

Table 15: Army’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational 

Specialties 52

Table 16: Navy’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties 56

Table 17: Navy’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational 

Specialties 58

Table 18: Marine Corps’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational 

Specialties 62

Table 19: Marine Corps’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational 

Specialties 68

Table 20: Air Force’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational 

Specialties 74

Table 21: Air Force’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational 

Specialties 76

Table 22: Army National Guard’s Consistently Overfilled 

Occupational Specialties 82

Table 23: Army National Guard’s Consistently Underfilled 

Occupational Specialties 84
Contents

Page iii GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 24: Army Reserve’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational 

Specialties 92

Table 25: Army Reserve’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational 

Specialties 96

Table 26: Navy Reserve’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational 

Specialties 102

Table 27: Navy Reserve’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational 

Specialties 104

Table 28: Marine Corps Reserve’s Consistently Overfilled 

Occupational Specialties 106

Table 29: Marine Corps Reserve’s Consistently Underfilled 

Occupational Specialties 110

Table 30: Air National Guard’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational 

Specialties 118

Table 31: Air National Guard’s Consistently Underfilled 

Occupational Specialties 120

Table 32: Air Force Reserve’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational 

Specialties 124

Table 33: Air Force Reserve’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational 

Specialties 128

Figures Figure 1: Percentage of New Recruits in Delayed Entry Programs 

Compared to the Components’ Goals for Fiscal Years 

2003 through 2006 15

Figure 2: Percentage of Enlisted Occupational Specialties That 

Were Consistently Over- or Underfilled across DOD for 

Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005 18

Figure 3: Total DOD Recruiting Program Budget for Fiscal Years 

2000 through 2006 26

Figure 4: Total DOD Advertising Budget for Fiscal Years 2000 

through 2006 27

Figure 5: Total DOD Enlistment Bonus Program Budget for Fiscal 

Years 2000 through 2006 28

Figure 6: Total DOD Selective Reenlistment Bonus Program 

Budget for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2006 29
Page iv GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

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Page 1 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

A

November 17, 2005 Letr

Congressional Committees

The Department of Defense (DOD) faces a significant challenge in 

recruiting and retaining hundreds of thousands of new servicemembers 

each year, not only to meet annual legislatively mandated aggregate 

personnel levels, but also to meet authorized personnel requirements 

within its hundreds of occupational specialties. To further complicate an 

already challenging recruiting environment, DOD reports that over half of 

today’s youth between the ages of 16 and 21 are not qualified to serve in the 

military because they fail to meet the military’s entry standards for 

education, aptitude, health, moral character, or other requirements.1

Furthermore, parents, teachers, and other influencers are less inclined to 

encourage young people to join the military. In fiscal year 2005 alone, DOD 

had goals to recruit almost 170,000 personnel into its active duty forces and 

about 131,000 personnel into its reserve and National Guard components.2

Additionally, in 2005, DOD had to retain tens of thousands of personnel to 

sustain its force of about 2.7 million military servicemembers.3

 Today’s 

immediate military recruiting and retention challenge centers on the 

continuing deployment of over 180,000 ground forces from the active, 

reserve, and National Guard components to the war zone in Iraq. Military 

officials have testified that fiscal year 2005 proved to be a difficult 

recruiting year and believe the recruiting environment will become even 

more challenging in fiscal year 2006.4

1

GAO, Military Personnel: Reporting Additional Servicemember Demographics Could 

Enhance Congressional Oversight, GAO-05-952 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 22, 2005).

2

DOD’s military forces consist of the active components (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air 

Force), and the reserve and National Guard components (Army National Guard, Army 

Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve). 

The Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve also assist DOD in meeting its commitments. 

However, we do not include the Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve in this report 

because it falls under the Department of Homeland Security, rather than DOD.

3

The total force includes approximately 1.4 million active duty military personnel and 

approximately 1.3 million reserve military personnel, including the Selected Reserves, the 

Individual Ready Reserves, and the Stand-by Reserves.

4

Current Status of Military Recruiting and Retention: Hearing Before Subcommittee on 

Military Personnel, House Armed Service Committee, 109th Cong. (July 19, 2005).
Page 2 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

The key to managing the force to meet operational demands is for DOD’s 

components to balance accessions and losses within the confines of their 

legislatively mandated personnel levels. However, simply meeting these 

mandated aggregate personnel levels could present a misleading picture of 

recruiting and retention challenges. Detailed information concerning 

whether the components have met their authorized personnel levels for 

occupational specialties, the reasons why certain occupational specialties 

may be over- or underfilled, and justifications for the use of incentives 

provided to servicemembers are important elements of an effective 

recruiting and retention plan. 

Given the extraordinary scope of the current military overseas operational 

commitments, many members of Congress have expressed considerable 

interest in DOD’s ability to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of 

servicemembers with the required skills and experience to accomplish its 

multiple missions. In response to this broad congressional interest, we 

undertook a review, under the authority of the Comptroller General, of 

military recruiting and retention. In March 2005, we submitted a statement 

for the record to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel, Committee on 

Armed Services, House of Representatives, which outlined our preliminary 

observations on DOD’s enlisted personnel recruiting and retention issues.5

This report, which updates that statement, addresses enlisted 

servicemembers only. Specifically, for this report we: (1) assessed the 

extent to which DOD’s active, reserve, and National Guard components 

met their enlisted aggregate recruiting and retention goals; (2) assessed the 

extent to which the components met their authorized personnel levels for 

enlisted occupational specialties; and (3) analyzed the steps DOD has taken 

to address recruiting and retention challenges. 

To address these objectives, we examined DOD policies, regulations, and 

directives related to recruiting and retention of military servicemembers. 

We also reviewed recruiting and retention reports and briefings issued by 

GAO, DOD, the military services, the Congressional Research Service, the 

Congressional Budget Office, and research organizations such as RAND. 

Additionally, we visited and interviewed officials within the Office of the 

Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and DOD’s 10 

components, including the active duty, reserve, and National Guard 

components’ headquarters and their recruiting commands to obtain 

5

GAO, Military Personnel: Preliminary Observations on Recruiting and Retention Issues 

within the U.S. Armed Forces, GAO-05-419T (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 16, 2005).
Page 3 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

insights into recruiting and retention challenges. We also analyzed 

individual component databases containing recruiting and retention data 

on active, reserve, and Guard servicemembers. We relied primarily on data 

covering fiscal years 2000 through June 30, 2005, the last fiscal quarter for 

which data were complete, but in certain cases, we were able to update the 

data with more current information. We also determined that the data used 

in this report were sufficiently reliable for our purposes. We conducted our 

work from January 2005 through October 2005 in accordance with 

generally accepted government auditing standards. Additional information 

on our scope and methodology is presented in appendix I. 

Results in Brief While DOD’s 10 components generally met their aggregate recruiting and 

retention goals for enlisted servicemembers in fiscal years 2000 through 

2004, they faced greater recruiting difficulties in fiscal year 2005, and 

several factors suggest they will continue to be challenged in meeting 

future recruiting and retention goals. With respect to recruiting, most 

components met their aggregate recruiting goals for fiscal years 2000 

through 2004. However, in fiscal year 2005, 5 of the 10 components—the 

Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, and Navy 

Reserve—missed their recruiting goals by a range of 8 to 20 percent. Most 

of the components met their aggregate retention goals for fiscal years 2000 

through 2004, but the Navy experienced aggregate shortages by up to

8 percent in fiscal year 2005. However, several factors suggest that the 

components may have difficulty meeting future recruiting and retention 

goals. For example, all the active components experienced shortfalls in the 

number of new recruits in their delayed entry programs, which suggest that 

they will likely experience difficulties in meeting their aggregate recruiting 

and retention goals in the future.6

 The active components prefer to enter 

each fiscal year with 35 to 65 percent of the coming year’s recruiting goals 

already filled by recruits in the delayed entry program. Current data show, 

however, that the components are not meeting these targets. Also, through 

its continued use of the “stop loss” program, the Army prevented over 

15,000 soldiers, or less than one-tenth of a percent of DOD’s total military 

force—Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard—from leaving 

active duty in June 2005, even though these soldiers had completed their

6

The delayed entry program consists of new recruits who have signed a contract to join the 

military at a future date.
Page 4 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

military obligations.7 Moreover, since fiscal year 2002, the Army Reserve 

has called to active duty about 7,000 members of the Individual Ready 

Reserve to help alleviate personnel shortages in the Army, Army Reserve, 

and Army National Guard.8

 As of August 2005, over 4,000 of these soldiers 

were still on active duty, serving a maximum of 2 years.

All components exceeded authorized personnel levels for some 

occupational specialties and did not meet others. Specifically, we found 

that 19 percent of DOD’s 1,484 occupational specialties were overfilled and 

41 percent were underfilled in at least 5 years from fiscal years 2000 

through 2005. Component officials provided several reasons why 

occupational specialties were over- or underfilled, including high demand 

occupational specialties that are critical to meet mission, overall force 

structure changes, and extensive training or qualification requirements. 

Additionally, officials in some components told us that they assign new 

recruits to occupational specialties that are overfilled, at times, to meet 

end-of-year aggregate personnel levels mandated by Congress. We believe 

that consistently over- and underfilled occupational specialties are a 

systemic problem for DOD that raises two critical questions. First, what is 

the cost to the taxpayer to retain thousands more personnel than necessary 

in consistently overfilled occupational specialties? Second, how can DOD 

components continue to effectively execute their mission with consistently 

underfilled occupational specialties? In fiscal year 2005, almost 31,000 

more servicemembers than authorized served in occupational specialties 

that have been consistently overfilled. We determined that it cost the 

federal government about $103,000 annually, on average, to compensate 

each enlisted active duty servicemember in fiscal year 2004. In contrast, 

DOD was unable to fill over 112,000 positions in consistently underfilled 

occupational specialties, raising concerns about the validity of authorized 

personnel levels. DOD, specifically the Office of the Under Secretary of 

Defense (OUSD), began requiring the active components to report 

information on those occupational specialties the components determine 

to be critical for recruiting in fiscal year 2004, and information on those 

occupational specialties the components determine to be critical for 

retention, beginning in fiscal year 2005. Collectively, the critical 

7

The stop loss program enables the components to prevent servicemembers from leaving 

active duty after they have completed their obligations.

8

The Individual Ready Reserve consists principally of individuals who (1) have had training, 

(2) have served previously in an active or reserve component, and (3) have some period of 

their military service obligation remaining.
Page 5 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

occupational specialties (such as Army Infantrymen and Marine Corps 

Counter Intelligence Specialists) that the active components report on 

represent at most 16 percent of DOD’s 625 active duty occupational 

specialties. Consequently, DOD is currently not in a position to monitor and 

evaluate at least 84 percent of active component occupational specialties 

because it does not require the active duty components to report on 

“noncritical” occupational specialties. Moreover, DOD does not require the 

reserve or National Guard components to report on any of their 859 

occupational specialties. In July 2005, DOD issued Directive 1304.20 that 

requires the components to meet aggregate and occupational specialtyspecific authorized personnel levels. However, until all components report 

on all over- and underfilled occupational specialties, including information 

as to the reasons why these occupational specialties are over- and 

underfilled, and DOD determines if the new directive is having its desired 

effect, the department cannot develop an effective plan to assist the 

components in addressing the root causes of recruiting and retention 

challenges. Moreover, DOD will be unable to address the critical questions 

we raised concerning the economic impact on the taxpayer of having 

thousands more personnel than necessary in consistently overfilled 

occupational specialties and how the department’s components can 

effectively execute their mission with consistently underfilled occupational 

specialties. 

DOD and the components have taken several steps, such as adjusting their 

recruiting, advertising, and financial incentives programs, to address their 

recruiting and retention difficulties; however, DOD lacks information on 

financial incentives provided for certain occupational specialties, which 

makes it difficult for the department to determine whether the financial 

incentives are being targeted most effectively. From fiscal years 2000 

through 2006, DOD’s collective recruiting program budgets ranged from 

approximately $631.6 million to $800.7 million; its advertising budgets 

ranged from approximately $506.6 million to $663.0 million; and its budgets 

for financial incentives, such as enlistment or selective reenlistment 

bonuses, ranged from approximately $149.3 million to $551.6 million. As in 

previous years, several components used these programs to address 

recruiting and retention needs in fiscal year 2005. Five components, for 

example, increased the number of recruiters, three components made 

adjustments to their advertising programs, and several components 

increased the financial incentives they offer to servicemembers serving in 

specific occupational specialties. While DOD requires the active 

components to report the rationale for the incentives they provide to 

servicemembers in critical occupational specialties, it does not require the 
Page 6 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

components to provide fully transparent rationales for the incentives 

provided to servicemembers in the remaining noncritical occupational 

specialties (about 84 percent). In some instances, we found that DOD’s 

active components were paying financial incentives to servicemembers in 

selected occupational specialties that have been consistently overfilled in 

the last 5 or 6 years. Officials explained that components target incentives 

to underfilled pay grades within occupational specialties that may be 

overfilled as a whole. Additionally, an official also stated that the 

requirement to meet legislatively mandated aggregate personnel levels 

result in, at times, offering bonuses to servicemembers who will serve in 

overfilled specialties, simply to meet their mandated aggregate personnel 

levels. Because DOD only requires the components to provide minimal 

justification on their use of financial incentives paid to servicemembers in 

all occupational specialties, it lacks the information needed to ensure 

funding spent on recruiting and retention is appropriately and effectively 

targeted to occupational specialties for which the components have the 

greatest need and to determine if other types of corrective action are 

needed.

We are making recommendations that would require the 10 active, reserve, 

and National Guard components to report all of their over- and underfilled 

occupational specialties, including reasons why the occupational 

specialties are over- and underfilled, and to justify their use of financial 

incentives provided to servicemembers in occupational specialties that 

have more personnel than authorized. Based on this information, we also 

recommend that DOD develop a management plan to address recruiting 

and retention challenges.

In written comments on a draft of this report, DOD partially concurred with 

our recommendations. DOD’s comments are included in this report as 

appendix V.

Background Conditions today present some of the most difficult recruiting and 

retention challenges DOD has experienced in recent history. Since the 

September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, DOD has 

launched three major military operations requiring significant numbers of 

military servicemembers: Operation Noble Eagle, which covers military 

operations related to homeland security; Operation Enduring Freedom, 

which includes ongoing military operations in Afghanistan and certain 

other countries; and Operation Iraqi Freedom, which includes ongoing 

military operations in Iraq. These military operations have greatly 
Page 7 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

increased personnel tempo, especially in the Army, Marine Corps, Army 

National Guard, and Army Reserve, which have provided the bulk of the 

military servicemembers for operations in Iraq. Additionally, when 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast in August and September 

2005, respectively, resulting in possibly the largest natural disaster relief 

and recovery operations in U.S. history, DOD was called upon to provide 

extensive search and rescue, evacuation, and medical support.

DOD relies on four active components—the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and 

Air Force—and four reserve and two National Guard components—the 

Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, 

Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve—to meet its mission.9

 Each 

year, Congress authorizes an annual year-end authorized personnel level 

for each component. In fiscal year 2005, the authorized personnel levels for 

the four active, four reserve, and two National Guard components totaled 

approximately 2.3 million military servicemembers.10 In order to meet 

legislatively mandated authorized personnel levels, DOD must balance 

accessions and losses. Meeting this authorization requirement is a function 

of recruiting and retention. 

The term recruiting refers to the military components’ ability to bring new 

members into the military to carry out mission-essential tasks in the near 

term and to begin creating a sufficient pool of entry-level servicemembers 

to develop into future midlevel and upper-level military leaders. To 

accomplish this task, active, reserve, and National Guard components set 

goals for accessions, or new recruits, who will enter basic training each 

year, and strive to meet their annual goals through their recruiting 

programs; advertising; and, where needed, financial incentives. The term 

retention refers to the military services’ ability to retain servicemembers 

with the necessary skills and experience. Again, the components rely on 

financial incentives, where needed, to meet their retention goals. 

The components further delineate their force structure through 

occupational specialties. These occupational specialties, totaling about 

1,500 across DOD in the active, reserve, and National Guard components, 

9

See footnote 2.

10The 2.3 million military servicemembers only include the Selected Reservists in the reserve 

components. Total authorizations also do not include additional authorized end-strength 

totals for active duty Army and Marine Corps servicemembers serving in Iraq and 

Afghanistan.
Page 8 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

represent the jobs that are necessary for the components to meet their 

specific missions. These occupational specialties cover a variety of jobs, 

such as infantrymen, dental technicians, personnel clerks, journalists, and 

air traffic controllers. 

DOD’s Components 

Met Most Aggregate 

Recruiting and 

Retention Goals in the 

Past 6 Fiscal Years, but 

Recent Trends Prompt 

Concerns

While DOD’s active, reserve, and National Guard components met most of 

their aggregate recruiting and retention goals in the past 6 fiscal years, they 

faced greater recruiting difficulties in fiscal year 2005. With respect to 

recruiting, most components met overall goals from fiscal years 2000 

through 2004, but 5 of the 10 components experienced recruiting 

difficulties in fiscal year 2005. Most components also met their aggregate 

retention goals in the past 6 fiscal years, but the Navy experienced 

retention shortages in fiscal year 2005. We note, however, that the 

components have taken certain actions that suggest they may be 

challenged to meet future recruiting and retention goals.

Components Generally Met 

Aggregate Recruiting Goals 

in Past 6 Fiscal Years, but 

Five Components 

Experienced Recruiting 

Difficulties in Fiscal Year 

2005

The active, reserve, and National Guard components generally met their 

aggregate recruiting goals for enlisted servicemembers for the past 6 fiscal 

years, but 5 of the 10 components experienced recruiting difficulties in 

2005. DOD’s recruiting data presented in table 1 show that with the 

exception of the Army, all of the active duty components met their overall 

recruiting goals. By the end of fiscal year 2005, the Army achieved about 92 

percent of its recruiting goal. 

Table 1: Percentage of Active Duty Enlisted Aggregate Recruiting Goals Met for 

Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005

Fiscal 

year Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force

2000 100 100 100 102

2001 100 100 100 102

2002 100 100 101 102

2003 100 100 100 100
Page 9 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: DOD.

Table 2 shows that, while DOD’s reserve and National Guard components 

generally met or exceeded their enlisted aggregate recruiting goals for 

fiscal years 2000 through 2004, four components missed their recruiting 

goals in 1 or 2 years during that period by 6 to 20 percent. For example, the 

Army National Guard achieved 82 percent and 87 percent of its recruiting 

objectives in fiscal years 2003 and 2004, respectively, and the Air National 

Guard achieved 87 percent and 94 percent of its recruiting objectives in 

fiscal years 2001 and 2004, respectively. Additionally, in fiscal year 2000, 

both the Navy Reserve and Air Force Reserve missed their recruiting goals 

by 19 percent and 20 percent, respectively. 

Reserve and National Guard recruiting data through the end of fiscal year 

2005 show that the reserve and National Guard components experienced 

difficulties in meeting their 2005 aggregate recruiting goals. Only the 

Marine Corps Reserve, achieving 102 percent, and the Air Force Reserve, 

achieving 113 percent, surpassed their goals. The Army Reserve achieved 

84 percent of its overall recruiting goal; the Army National Guard, 80 

percent; the Air National Guard, 86 percent; and the Navy Reserve, 88 

percent. Appendix II contains more detailed information on components’ 

recruiting goals and achievements.

2004 101 101 100 101

2005 92 100 100 102

(Continued From Previous Page)

Fiscal 

year Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force
Page 10 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 2: Percentage of Reserve Component Enlisted Aggregate Recruiting Goals 

Met for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005

Source: DOD.

Components Met Aggregate 

Retention Goals in Past 6 

Fiscal Years, but the Navy 

Experienced Retention 

Difficulties in Fiscal Year 

2005

As with recruiting, the active, reserve, and National Guard components 

generally met or surpassed their enlisted aggregate retention goals during 

the past 6 fiscal years, but in fiscal year 2005, 1 of the 10 components 

experienced retention shortages. DOD’s active components track retention 

by years of service and first, second, or subsequent enlistments.11 Table 3 

shows that from fiscal years 2000 through 2004, the Army met all of its 

retention goals and that the 3 remaining active components missed some of 

their retention goals in 1 or 2 years during that period by at most 8 percent. 

For example, the Air Force did not meet its goal for second term 

Fiscal 

year

Army

National

Guard

Army

Reserve

Navy

Reserve

Marine

Corps

Reserve

Air National

Guard

Air Force

Reserve

2000 113 100 81 101 106 80

2001 103 102 101 102 87 110

2002 105 107 102 103 106 114

2003 82 102 106 101 148 101

2004 87 101 111 102 94 111

2005 80 84 88 102 86 113

11The Army tracks retention rates by initial term (first enlistment, regardless of length), midcareer (second or subsequent enlistment with up to 10 years of service), and career (second 

or subsequent enlistment with 10 or more years of service). The Navy’s most important 

retention categories are Zone A (up to 6 years of service), Zone B (6 years to 10 years of 

service), and Zone C (10 years to 14 years of service). The Marine Corps tracks retention by 

first enlistment and second or subsequent enlistment. Through June 2005, the Air Force 

tracked retention by first term (first enlistment, regardless of length), second term (second 

enlistment), and career (third or subsequent enlistment). Beginning July 2005, the Air Force 

changed from reporting reenlistment rates as the primary retention measure to calculating 

retention using a new metric, Average Career Length, which factors in losses that occur at 

all years of service.
Page 11 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

reenlistments by up to 8 percent during this period. In fact, the Air Force 

did not meet this goal in 4 of the past 6 fiscal years and missed its goal for 

career third-term reenlistments in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The Navy did not 

meet its goal for reenlistments among enlisted servicemembers who have 

served from 10 to 14 years in 3 of the past 5 fiscal years, and the Marine 

Corps did not meet its goal for subsequent reenlistments in fiscal year 2003 

only. 

In fiscal year 2005, retention data again show most active components 

generally met their enlisted aggregate retention goals, with the exception of 

the Navy. The Navy did not meet its end-of-year retention goals for 

servicemembers with less than 6 years of service by about 2 percent, and 

for servicemembers with 6 to 10 years of service by about 8 percent. 

Appendix III contains more detailed information on active components’ 

retention goals and achievements.
Page 12 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 3: Percentage of Active Duty Enlisted Aggregate Retention Goals Met for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005

Source: DOD. 

Note: N/A indicates that data were not available or incomplete.

a

The Air Force introduced new metrics—Average Career Length and Cumulative Continuation Rates—

in July 2005 to more accurately measure enlisted retention patterns.

DOD tracks reserve and National Guard components’ retention through 

attrition rates, a measure of the ratio of people who leave those 

components in a given year compared to the components’ total authorized 

personnel levels. These components establish attrition goals, which 

represent the maximum percentage of the force that they can lose each 

year and still meet authorized personnel levels. Annual attrition ceilings 

were originally established in fiscal year 2000 and have remained 

unchanged for each of the components. Table 4 shows that the reserve and 

National Guard components were generally at or below their attrition 

thresholds, thereby meeting their retention goals. Only three components, 

the Army National Guard, Army Reserve, and Air National Guard exceeded 

their attrition thresholds during fiscal years 2000 through 2003, and these 

thresholds were exceeded by about 1 percentage point or less. 

Component

Percentage of

goal met

(2000)

Percentage of

goal met

(2001)

Percentage of

goal met

(2002)

Percentage of

goal met

(2003)

Percentage of

goal met

(2004)

Percentage of

goal met

(2005)

Army

 Initial 107.0 101.3 101.7 110.2 108.3 103.3

 Mid-career 101.8 101.6 101.6 105.9 104.1 102.7

 Career 106.1 101.7 104.7 100.4 109.2 128.5

Navy

 Zone A N/A 99.8 104.8 110.4 96.6 97.7

 Zone B N/A 98.8 102.1 105.1 100.3 91.6

 Zone C N/A 95.5 97.1 102.2 102.2 99.8

Marine Corps

 First term 100.9 100.0 102.5 99.6 100.6 103.4

 Subsequent N/A N/A 125.5 94.2 137.3 137.6

Air Forcea

 First term 96.5 102.0 131.1 110.0 114.5 107.7

 Second term 92.9 91.9 104.4 92.3 93.3 115.9

 Career 95.6 94.9 99.6 100.2 102.1 105.9
Page 13 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 4: Percentage of Reserve and National Guard Enlisted Aggregate Attrition Goals and Achievements for Fiscal Years 2000 

through 2005

Source: DOD.

Several Factors Suggest 

Recruiting and Retention 

Difficulties Are Likely to 

Continue

Several factors suggest the components are likely to continue experiencing 

difficulties in meeting their aggregate recruiting and retention goals in the 

future. DOD previously reported that over half of today’s youth between 

the ages of 16 and 21 are not qualified to serve in the military because they 

fail to meet the military’s entry standards.12 In addition, all active 

components are experiencing reduced numbers of applicants in their 

delayed entry programs. Also, each of the components initiated a stop loss 

program at various times in the past 6 fiscal years that prevented 

servicemembers from leaving active duty after they completed their 

obligations, although the Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve 

are the only components still employing stop loss. Furthermore, the Army 

Reserve has recalled members of the Individual Ready Reserve. 

Component

Goal

(ceiling)

Fiscal

year 2000

actual

Fiscal

year 2001

actual

Fiscal

year 2002

actual

Fiscal

year 2003

actual

Fiscal

year 2004

actual

Fiscal

year 2000

actual

year to

date

(June)

Fiscal

year 2004

actual

year to

date

(June) 

Fiscal

year 2005

actual

year to

date

(June)

Army National Guard

19.5 18.0 20.0 20.6 18.1 18.6 14.4 14.1 15.6

Army Reserve

28.6 29.4 27.4 24.6 22.1 22.6 21.6 15.6 17.2

Navy Reserve

36.0 27.1 27.6 26.5 26.5 28.2 21.7 21.8 23.9

Marine Corps Reserve

30.0 28.5 26.4 26.0 21.4 26.3 22.1 21.0 16.0

Air National Guard

12.0 11.0 9.6 7.2 12.7 11.5 8.8 9.0 7.8

Air Force Reserve

18.0 13.9 13.4 8.7 17.0 13.6 12.0 10.3 11.1

12See GAO-05-952.
Page 14 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Delayed Entry Program All of the active components are experiencing shrinking numbers of new 

recruits in their delayed entry programs.13 According to a DOD official from 

the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the delayed entry program is viewed 

as a depository for future soldiers, sailors, and airmen. When prospects 

sign their contracts, they enter into the pool of applicants awaiting the date 

that they report to basic training. While in the delayed entry program, the 

applicants are the responsibility of the recruiter and, as such, are taught 

basic military protocols and procedures, such as saluting and rank 

recognition. Applicants generally spend no more than a year in the delayed 

entry program and no less than 10 days. Before being released from the 

delayed entry program, applicants are medically qualified, take an initial 

oath of enlistment, and perform other personal business prior to reporting 

to basic training. According to the same DOD official, a healthy delayed 

entry program is imperative to a successful recruiting year. If the active 

components come in at or near their delayed entry program goals for the 

year, they can be relatively sure they will achieve their annual recruiting 

goals. If they fall short of their delayed entry program goals, the 

components try to make up the shortfalls by sending individuals to basic 

training as early as the same month in which they sign enlistment papers. 

Typically, the active components prefer to enter a fiscal year with 35 

percent to 65 percent of their coming year’s accession goals, depending on 

the component, already filled by recruits in the delayed entry program. 

Figure 1 shows the percentage of new recruits in the delayed entry 

programs compared to the components’ goals for fiscal years 2003 through 

2006. For example, the Army’s goal is to enter each fiscal year with 35 

percent of its upcoming annual accession goal already in the delayed entry 

program. The Army exceeded this goal when it entered fiscal year 2004 

with 46 percent of its annual accession goal already in the program. 

However, it entered fiscal year 2005 with only 25 percent of its accession 

goal in the program and, as of August 2005, is projected to enter fiscal year 

2006 with 4 percent of its accession goal in the program. The Navy, with an 

annual goal of 65 percent for its delayed entry program, is projected to 

enter fiscal year 2006 with almost 36 percent of its accession goal in the 

program. The Marine Corps, with an annual delayed entry program goal of 

43 percent, entered fiscal year 2004 well above this goal, with 71 percent of 

its accession goal in the program, 54 percent in 2005, and a projected 26 

percent in fiscal year 2006. Similarly, the Air Force, with a delayed entry 

13The delayed entry program consists of individuals who have signed a contract to join the 

military at a future date.
Page 15 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

program goal of 43 percent, projected to enter fiscal year 2006 with almost 

22 percent of its accession goal in the program. The fact that all the active 

duty components entered fiscal year 2006 with at least 40 percent fewer 

recruits in their delayed entry programs than desired suggests that the 

active duty components will likely face recruiting difficulties in fiscal year 

2006. 

Figure 1: Percentage of New Recruits in Delayed Entry Programs Compared to the 

Components’ Goals for Fiscal Years 2003 through 2006

Notes: Data on the Marine Corps’s 2003 delayed entry program were not available. All 2006 data cover 

through the end of July.

Stop Loss Although some components have employed stop loss over the past several 

years, the Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard are the only 

components currently using it. The stop loss program, according to several 

Army officials, is used primarily for units that are deployed and is intended 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Percentage of new recruits in delayed entry programs

Active components

Source: DOD.

2003

2004

2005

2006

Components' goals for delayed entry programs

Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force
Page 16 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

to maintain unit cohesion. A DOD official told us that in June 2005, the 

Army stop loss program affected over 15,000 soldiers, or less than onetenth of a percent of DOD’s total military force—9,044 active component 

soldiers, 3,762 reserve soldiers, and 2,480 National Guard soldiers. The 

active Army and Army Reserve stop loss program takes effect 90 days prior 

to unit deployment or with official deployment order notification, and 

remains in effect through the date of redeployment to permanent duty 

stations, plus a maximum of 90 days. Army headquarters’ officials said that 

several Army initiatives, such as restructuring and rebalancing the active 

and reserve component mix, will, over time, eliminate the need for stop 

loss. Congress has expressed concern that the use of stop loss to meet 

overall personnel requirements may have a negative impact on recruiting 

and retention and the public’s perception of the military. Another Army 

official told us that the attention this program has received in the media 

may have created some of the negative implications on the public’s 

perception of military service. Additionally, an Army Reserve official we 

spoke with stated that when active duty units are affected by stop loss, 

servicemembers who have not completed their military obligations in those 

units may be delayed in transitioning from active duty into the reserve or 

National Guard components, potentially creating more difficulties for these 

components to meet their recruiting and retention goals.

Individual Ready Reserve The Army Reserve has also recalled members of the Individual Ready 

Reserve—which, according to an Army Reserve official, is used to fill 

personnel shortfalls in active, reserve, and National Guard units—to 

address recruiting and retention difficulties. All soldiers, whether in an 

active, reserve, or National Guard component, agree to at least an 8-year 

service commitment in their initial enlistment contracts. This obligation 

exists regardless of how much time is to be served in the active, reserve, or 

National Guard component, or some combination of the active and reserve 

or National Guard components under the enlistment contract. If the soldier 

is separated from the active duty Army, reserve, or National Guard 

component before the 8-year commitment has been completed, the soldier 

may elect to remain in active duty Army, affiliate with the reserves, or be 

assigned to the Individual Ready Reserve. In the latter case, 

servicemembers are subject to recall, if needed. Almost 7,000 soldiers, 

including about 600 servicemembers who volunteered to serve and about 

6,400 others under contractual obligation, have been deployed from the
Page 17 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Individual Ready Reserve since 2002. As of August 2005, over 4,000 of these 

soldiers were still on active duty, serving a maximum of 2 years.14

Components Have 

Exceeded Authorized 

Personnel Levels for 

Some Occupational 

Specialties and 

Experienced Shortages 

in Others

All components exceeded authorized personnel levels for some 

occupational specialties and did not meet others. Specifically, we found 

certain occupational specialties have been consistently over- or underfilled 

when compared to their actual personnel authorizations.15 We believe these 

consistently overfilled and underfilled occupational specialties raise 

critical questions. First, what is the cost to the taxpayer to retain thousands 

more personnel than necessary in consistently overfilled occupational 

specialties? Second, how can DOD components continue to effectively 

execute their mission with consistently underfilled occupational 

specialties? However, because DOD lacks information from the 

components on all over- and underfilled occupational specialties, including 

reasons why these occupational specialties are over- and underfilled, it 

cannot address these questions and develop a plan to assist the 

components in addressing the root causes of its recruiting and retention 

challenges.

1410 U.S.C. § 12301. Individual Ready Reserve personnel called back into active duty may 

consent to extended service beyond the 2-year maximum due to the needs of the component 

and mission requirements.

15DOD lacks common criteria that define thresholds for over- and underfilled occupational 

specialties. For purposes of this report, therefore, we defined overfilled occupational 

specialties as those that were over their authorized levels by 1 or more individuals and 

underfilled occupational specialties as those that were under their authorized levels by 1 or 

more individuals. We defined consistently over- or consistently underfilled as being over-or 

underfilled for 5 or 6 fiscal years with one exception. The Navy Reserve only provided data 

for 2002 through 2005; therefore we defined consistently over- or underfilled as 4 years for 

the Navy Reserve. When we redefined over- and underfilled occupational specialties over or 

under their authorizations by 10 individuals, we found that all components still had at least 

one occupational specialty that was consistently overfilled and at least one occupational 

specialty that was consistently underfilled.
Page 18 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Certain Occupational 

Specialties Have Been 

Consistently Over- or 

Underfilled Compared to 

Their Authorized Personnel 

Levels

Of nearly 1,500 enlisted occupational specialties across DOD, about 19 

percent were consistently overfilled and about 41 percent were 

consistently underfilled from fiscal years 2000 through 2005, as shown in 

figure 2.16 In fiscal year 2005 alone, within the occupational specialties that 

consistently exceeded authorization, there were almost 31,000 more 

servicemembers in these occupational specialties than authorized. At the 

same time, DOD was not able to fill over 112,000 positions in consistently 

underfilled occupational specialties.

Figure 2: Percentage of Enlisted Occupational Specialties That Were Consistently 

Over- or Underfilled across DOD for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005

Note: We defined consistently over- or underfilled as being over or under the occupational specialty’s 

authorized level for 5 or 6 fiscal years. 

a

All other occupational specialties refers to those occupational specialties that have not been 

consistently over- or underfilled from fiscal years 2000 through 2005. 

The percentage of consistently over- and underfilled occupational 

specialties varies across the components. For example, from fiscal years 

2000 through 2005, the percentage of consistently overfilled occupational 

specialties ranged from 1 percent in the active Navy to 44 percent in the 

Navy Reserve. Similarly, from fiscal years 2000 through 2005, the 

percentage of consistently underfilled occupational specialties ranged from 

16The 2005 data are through June 2005.

41%

19%

40%

All other occupational specialties

Consistently underfilled

● Consistently overfilled

●

●

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

a
Page 19 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

16 percent in the active Army to 65 percent in the active Navy. Table 5 

provides information on consistently over- and underfilled occupational 

specialties for each component.17 Appendix IV provides more detailed 

information on the occupational specialties that were consistently overand underfilled for each component. 

Table 5: Percentage of Consistently Overfilled and Underfilled Active and Reserve Enlisted Occupational Specialties for Fiscal 

Years 2000 through 2005

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Note: Data for 2000 through 2004 are as of September 30. Data for 2005 are as of June 30.

a

We defined consistently over- or underfilled as being over or under the occupational specialty’s 

authorized level for 5 or 6 fiscal years. 

b

Navy provided data for the occupational specialty rating level and not the skill classification level.

17Information for the Reserve and National Guard components reflects aggregate data that 

are not state specific. Therefore, the number and percentage of over- and underfilled 

occupational specialties may not accurately capture additional challenges the Reserve and 

Guard components face due to geographic recruiting limitations and meeting state mission 

requirements, respectively.

Component

Total number of

occupational

specialties

(2005)

Consistently overfilleda Consistently underfilled

Number of

occupational

specialties

Percentage of

occupational

specialties

Number of

occupational

specialties

Percentage of

occupational

specialties

Army 182 33 18 29 16

Navy 74b 1 1 48 65

Marine Corps 245 51 21 61 25

Air Force 124 10 8 68 55

Total active duty 625 95 15 206 33

Army National Guard 188 27 14 114 61

Army Reserve 174 45 26 72 41

Navy Reservec 62 27 44 12 19

Marine Corps Reserve 218 38 17 108 50

Air National Guard 103 9 9 59 57

Air Force Reserve 114 37 32 40 35

Total reserve and 

National Guard 859 183 21 405 47

Total active duty, reserve 

and National Guard 1,484 278 19 611 41
Page 20 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

c

Navy Reserve did not provide data for 2000 and 2001; therefore we defined consistently over- or 

underfilled for 4 years for the Navy Reserve.

Our analysis further shows the number of servicemembers that exceeded 

the authorizations assigned to occupational specialties ranged from just 1 

servicemember to almost 6,000 servicemembers. For example, the active 

Army Reserve Technical Engineer occupational specialty was overfilled by 

1 servicemember in fiscal year 2000, and the active Navy Seaman 

occupational specialty was overfilled by almost 6,000 servicemembers in 

that same year. Similarly, we found shortages in the number of 

servicemembers assigned to occupational specialties ranged from just 1 

servicemember to over 8,200 servicemembers. For example, the Marine 

Corps Reserve Parachute Rigger occupational specialty was underfilled by 

1 servicemember in fiscal year 2000 and the active Navy Hospital Corpsman 

occupational specialty was underfilled by over 8,200 servicemembers in 

that same year.

Table 6 presents several reasons provided by component officials to 

explain why certain occupational specialties have been consistently 

overfilled. For example, an Air Force Reserve official told us that this 

component recruited more Tactical Aircraft Avionics Systems personnel 

than authorized because it is a high-demand, technical occupational 

specialty that is critical to one of the Air Force Reserve’s missions. As a 

result, this occupational specialty has been consistently overfilled by about 

160 to 240 individuals each year for the past 6 years. Furthermore, we 

found that the Army’s Cavalry Scout occupational specialty was overfilled 

by over 200 to almost 1,000 individuals in the past 5 years and an Army 

official stated that this occupational specialty was anticipated to increase 

its personnel authorization levels. According to Army projections, the 

current strength is still 1,700 short of the fiscal year 2007 target. Moreover, 

several component officials told us that some of their occupational 

specialties have consistently been overfilled because their components 

needed to meet legislatively mandated aggregate personnel levels, and to 

do so, they assigned personnel to occupational specialties that did not 

necessarily need additional personnel. 

Table 6 also presents several reasons provided by component officials to 

explain why certain occupational specialties have been consistently 

underfilled. For example, component officials told us that extensive 

training requirements have led the Army’s Special Forces Medical Sergeant, 

the Army National Guard’s Power-Generation Equipment Repairer, and the 

Marine Corps’s Counterintelligence Specialist occupational specialties to 

be consistently underfilled for the last 5 or 6 years. Furthermore, an official 
Page 21 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

in the Army National Guard stated that the occupational specialty, Motor 

Transport Operator, was consistently underfilled by at least 1,800 to about 

4,800 individuals in the past 6 years because the entire nation is short of 

truck drivers, which poses a recruiting challenge. 

Table 6: Examples of Reasons for Consistently Over- or Underfilled Occupational Specialties as Reported by Component 

Officials

Source: DOD. 

We believe that consistently over- and underfilled occupational specialties 

are a systemic problem for DOD that raises questions about the validity of 

Reason an occupational specialty was consistently overfilled Example of occupational specialties

Significant decrease in authorizations over several years Avenger Crewmember (Army)

Combat Engineer (Army)

Personnel Clerk (Marine Corps Reserve)

Ground Radar Systems (Air Force)

Critical technical skill; high demand Tactical Aircraft Avionics Systems (Air Force Reserve)

Heavily utilized and deployed; high turnover Security Forces (Air Force Reserve)

Overall force structure changes—current strength is still short of 

future target

Cavalry Scout (Army)

Infantryman (Army)

Variations in attrition behavior significantly influence low-density 

occupational specialties

Patient Administration Specialist (Army)

Mortuary Affairs Specialist (Army National Guard)

Meet personnel requirements Supply (Air Force Reserve)

Personnel (Air Force Reserve)

Entry level occupational specialty—need overage to grow to 

intermediate level

Automotive Organizational Mechanic (Marine Corps Reserve)

Meteorological and Oceanographic Observer (Marine Corps)

Reason an occupational specialty was consistently underfilled Example of occupational specialties

High demand and high probability of deployment Infantryman (Army National Guard)

Extensive training or qualification requirements Special Forces Medical Sergeant (Army)

Power-Generation Equipment Repairer (Army National Guard)

Maintenance (Air Force Reserve)

Special Investigations (Air Force Reserve)

Counterintelligence Specialist (Marine Corps)

Reconnaissance Man (Marine Corps Reserve)

Clearance requirements and highly technical skills Signal Collection/Identification Analyst (Army)

Counterintelligence Specialist (Marine Corps)

Training pipeline delays Dental Technician (Navy)

Market shortage Motor Transport Operator (Army National Guard)

Overall force structure changes—increase in authorizations Field Artillery Automated Tactical Data System Specialist (Army)

Combat Control (Air Force)

Intelligence Applications (Air Force)

Master at Arms (Navy Reserve)
Page 22 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

occupational specialty authorizations. The fact that DOD has consistently 

experienced almost 280 overfilled occupational specialties raises particular 

questions about affordability. We determined that it cost the federal 

government about $103,000 annually, on average, to compensate each 

enlisted active duty servicemember in fiscal year 2004. Accordingly, 

compensating the almost 31,000 servicemembers who served in 

occupational specialties that exceeded authorized personnel levels for 

fiscal year 2005 was costly. Similarly, the consistently underfilled 

occupational specialties raise the question about the components’ ability to 

continue to achieve their mission. The fact that over 112,000 positions in 

consistently underfilled occupational specialties were vacant in fiscal year 

2005 raises concerns about whether the authorized personnel levels for 

these occupational specialties are based on valid requirements.

DOD Lacks Information on 

Recruiting and Retention 

Challenges for All Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational 

Specialties

While the active components have started reporting information to DOD on 

certain occupational specialties, the department currently lacks 

information on all occupational specialties, which prevents a complete 

understanding of the components’ recruiting and retention challenges. The 

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) for Personnel and 

Readiness directed the active components to report their critical 

occupational specialties for recruiting, beginning in 2004, in OUSD’s 

personnel and readiness report—an update provided to the Secretary of 

Defense each quarter. Table 7 provides the OUSD-defined criteria for 

occupational specialties that are critical for recruiting. An occupational 

specialty must meet at least one criterion to be considered critical; the fact 

that an occupational specialty is underfilled is only one of the criteria. 

Accordingly, the active components identify and report to OUSD about 10 

percent of their occupational specialties that they deem critical for 

recruiting. For example, in OUSD’s third quarter fiscal year 2005 personnel 

and readiness report to the Secretary of Defense, the active components 

reported accessions information on 67 occupational specialties. In 

addition, the active components reported the reason why the occupational 

specialties reported were deemed critical, the accession goal for these 

occupational specialties, and year-to-date accessions achieved. Beginning 

in 2005, OUSD further directed the active components to report critical 

occupational specialties for retention as well. Table 7 also provides the 

OUSD-defined criteria for occupational specialties that are critical for 

retention. In fiscal year 2005, each of the active components reported 10 

occupational specialties, for a total of 40 occupational specialties, which 

they deemed critical for retention. Again, the active components reported 

the reason why the occupational specialties reported were deemed critical; 
Page 23 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

the retention goal; number of personnel retained to date; and the number of 

servicemembers authorized and assigned, or the fill rate, for each 

occupational specialty reported. These 40 occupational specialties, 

however, represent only 6 percent of the 625 total active duty occupational 

specialties. Collectively, the critical occupational specialties (such as Army 

Infantrymen and Marine Corps Counter Intelligence Specialists) that the 

active components report on represent at most 16 percent of the 625 active 

duty occupational specialties.18 Therefore, OUSD is not receiving 

information on at least 84 percent of active duty occupational specialties. 

Furthermore, the reserve and National Guard components are not required 

to report to OUSD any information on their combined 859 occupational 

specialties. This means that OUSD receives fill rate information on less 

than 3 percent of all occupational specialties. 

Table 7: OUSD’s Criteria for Determining Occupational Specialties That Are Critical 

for Recruiting and Retention

Source: DOD. 

Note: An occupational specialty must meet one criterion to be considered critical for recruiting or for 

retention.

18Given that some occupational specialties are deemed critical for both recruiting and 

retention, the active components actually provided information on 87 distinct occupational 

specialties.

Critical for 

recruiting

(1) Crucial to combat readiness

(2) Undermanned in the force

(3) Unfilled class seats

(4) High volume required

(5) High entrance standards 

(6) Undesireable duty

Critical for 

retention

(1) Must have a history of being or must be projected to be 

underfilled

(2) Must be mission critical, which is defined as

(a) technical skills requiring high training costs, replacement 

costs, or both;

(b) skills in high demand in the civilian sector;

(c) challenging to recruit into; 

(d) crucial to combat readiness; or 

(e) low-density/high-demand skill
Page 24 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

In July 2005, DOD issued Directive 1304.20 that requires the components to 

meet aggregate and occupational-specialty-specific authorized personnel 

levels. However, this directive does not include any reporting requirements 

and therefore does not specifically require the components to report on 

over- and underfilled occupational specialties. Until all components are 

required to provide complete information on all over- and underfilled 

occupational specialties, including reasons why these occupational 

specialties are over- and underfilled, and DOD determines if the new 

directive is having its desired effect, the department cannot develop an 

effective plan to assist the components in addressing the root causes of 

recruiting and retention challenges. Moreover, DOD is not in the position to 

assess the economic impact on the taxpayer of thousands of consistently 

overfilled occupational specialties or determine whether it can continue to 

effectively execute the mission requirements with consistently underfilled 

occupational specialties. 

DOD Has Taken Steps 

to Enhance Recruiting 

and Retention Efforts, 

but Limited 

Information Makes It 

Difficult to Determine 

Financial Incentives’ 

Effectiveness 

DOD’s components spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year on 

programs to enhance their recruiting and retention efforts; however, the 

department lacks the information needed to determine whether financial 

incentives are targeted most effectively. Budgets for these programs—

recruiting, advertising, and financial incentives—have fluctuated over the 

last 6 fiscal years.19 Specifically, in fiscal year 2005, five components 

increased their recruiter forces and three components revised their 

advertising programs. Additionally, various components increased 

enlistment and reenlistment bonuses to enhance recruiting and retention 

for specific occupational specialties. However, because OUSD does not 

require the components to fully justify the financial incentives paid to 

servicemembers in all occupational specialties, DOD lacks the information 

needed to ensure that funding spent on recruiting and retention is 

appropriately and effectively targeted to occupational specialties for which 

the components have the greatest need or to determine if other types of 

corrective action are needed. In fact, our analysis shows that components 

offered some of these incentives to servicemembers in consistently 

overfilled occupational specialties. 

19We have not looked at budget justification data provided with the supplemental requests. 
Page 25 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Recruiting Programs, 

Advertising, and Financial 

Incentive Budgets Have 

Fluctuated

Budget data for fiscal years 2000 through 2006 show that DOD’s recruiting 

programs, advertising, and financial incentive budgets fluctuated from 

$1.7 billion to $2.1 billion during those years, and that DOD spent a total of 

$9.9 billion on these programs over the first 5 years.20 Fiscal years 2005 and 

2006 budget estimates for these programs total $1.7 billion and $1.8 billion, 

respectively. 

DOD’s overall annual expenditures for recruiting programs fluctuated from 

approximately $631.6 million to $800.7 million from fiscal years 2000 to 

2004, and budgeted estimates of recruiting expenditures for fiscal year 2005 

were $639.5 million, and for fiscal year 2006, $726.2 million. These 

recruiting expenditures cover essential items for recruiting commands and 

stations throughout the United States, including meals, lodging, and travel 

of applicants; recruiter expenses;21 vehicle operation and maintenance; 

office spaces; and other incidental expenses. Figure 3 shows actual 

recruiting expenditures for fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and budgeted 

recruiting expenditures for fiscal years 2005 and 2006.

20All dollar amounts have been adjusted for inflation to constant fiscal year 2005 dollars.

21Recruiter salaries are covered separately in DOD’s military personnel accounts.
Page 26 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Figure 3: Total DOD Recruiting Program Budget for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2006

Note: The data from 2000 through 2004 are actual expenditures. The 2005 and 2006 data are the 

amounts budgeted for those years.

DOD’s annual advertising expenditures fluctuated from approximately 

$506.6 million to $663.0 million from fiscal years 2000 to 2004, and 

budgeted advertising expenditures for fiscal year 2005 were $570.7 million, 

and for fiscal year 2006, $543.9 million—a decrease of almost $27 million. 

Figure 4 shows actual advertising expenditures for fiscal years 2000 

through 2004 and budgeted advertising expenditures for fiscal years 2005 

and 2006.

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Fiscal year 2005 constant dollars in millions

Fiscal year

Source: DOD.

660.5 683.5

631.6

800.7

663.0 639.5

726.2

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Page 27 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Figure 4: Total DOD Advertising Budget for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2006

Note: The data from 2000 through 2004 are actual expenditures. The 2005 and 2006 data are the 

amounts budgeted for those years.

DOD’s annual expenditures for enlistment bonuses—targeted to new 

recruits—fluctuated from approximately $162.1 million to $301.2 million 

from fiscal years 2000 to 2004, and budgeted enlistment bonus 

expenditures for fiscal year 2005 were $149.3 million, and for fiscal year 

2006, $175.0 million. Figure 5 shows actual enlistment bonus expenditures 

for fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and budgeted enlistment bonus 

expenditures for fiscal years 2005 and 2006.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Fiscal year

Source: DOD.

506.6

549.8

639.2

562.6

662.9

570.7

543.9

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Fiscal year 2005 constant dollars in millions
Page 28 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Figure 5: Total DOD Enlistment Bonus Program Budget for Fiscal Years 2000 

through 2006

Note: The data from 2000 through 2004 are actual expenditures. The 2005 and 2006 data are the 

amounts budgeted for those years.

DOD’s total expenditures for selective reenlistment bonuses—targeted to 

servicemembers already in the military who reenlist for an additional 

number of years—fluctuated from approximately $420.5 million to 

$551.6 million from fiscal years 2000 to 2004,22 and budgeted reenlistment 

bonus expenditures for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 were $346.1 million and 

$387.7 million, respectively. Our analysis of actual expenditures for 

reenlistment bonuses in fiscal year 2005 for the active Navy, Marine Corps, 

and Air Force officials, show their expenditures to be within $13.5 million, 

$4.8 million, and $11.0 million of their budgeted amounts, respectively.23

However, it is significant to note that the active Army component spent 

22GAO, Military Personnel: Management and Oversight of the Selective Reenlistment 

Bonus Program Needs Improvement, GAO-03-149 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 25, 2002), and 

Military Personnel: Observations Related to Reserve Compensation, Selective 

Reenlistment Bonuses, and Mail Delivery to Deployed Troops, GAO-04-582T (Washington, 

D.C.: Mar. 24, 2004).

23Our analysis of selective reenlistment bonus data does not include anniversary payments.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Fiscal year

Source: DOD.

162.1

232.3

301.2

226.9

186.8

149.3

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Fiscal year 2005 constant dollars in millions

175.0
Page 29 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

approximately $426.0 million on reenlistment bonuses in fiscal year 2005, 

or almost eight times more than its budgeted amount of $54.3 million, to 

meet its retention goals. Figure 6 shows actual selective reenlistment 

bonus expenditures for fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and budgeted 

selective reenlistment bonus expenditures for fiscal years 2005 and 2006.

Figure 6: Total DOD Selective Reenlistment Bonus Program Budget for Fiscal Years 

2000 through 2006

Note: The data from 2000 through 2004 are actual expenditures. The 2005 and 2006 data are the 

amounts budgeted for those years.

Five Components Have 

Increased Number of 

Recruiters

While the actual number of recruiters fluctuated for all components from 

fiscal year 2000 through fiscal year 2005, five components—the Army, Army 

Reserve, Air Force, Air National Guard, and Army National Guard—

increased their numbers of recruiters between fiscal years 2004 and 2005. 

Table 8 shows that the Army added almost 1,300 recruiters for a total of 

6,262 recruiters, and the Army Reserve added over 450 recruiters for a total 

of 1,296 recruiters from September 2004 through June 2005. The Air Force 

and Air National Guard also increased their number of recruiters, from 

1,480 to 1,487, and from 373 to 376, respectively. Of all the components, the 

Army National Guard has shown the greatest increase in its recruiter 

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Fiscal year

Source: DOD.

420.5

551.6 535.6

460.1

437.5

346.1

387.7

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Fiscal year 2005 constant dollars in millions
Page 30 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

force—increasing the total number of recruiters from 2,702 in fiscal year 

2004 to 4,448 in fiscal year 2005. 

Table 8: Number of Recruiters by Component

Source: DOD components.

Note: N/A indicates that data were not available or incomplete.

a

The 2005 data cover October 2004 through June 2005.

b

Marine Corps Reserve recruiters are included in the Marine Corps numbers. 

Some Components Have 

Made Adjustments to Their 

Advertising Programs

In fiscal year 2005, the Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard 

made specific adjustments to their advertising programs.24 A primary focus 

of their recent advertising efforts has shifted to the “influencers,” those 

individuals who play a pivotal role in a potential recruit’s decision to join 

the military, including parents, teachers, coaches, other school officials, 

and extended family members. For example, the Army focused efforts on 

using its recruiting Web site as a vehicle to provide video testimonials of 

soldiers explaining, in their own words, what it means to be a soldier and 

why others should enlist. The Army and Army Reserve increased support to 

local recruiters through more public affairs efforts and by encouraging 

command support of their Special Recruiter Assistance Program. This 

Components 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005a

Army 6,257 6,116 6,552 5,503 4,965 6,262

Navy 5,000 5,000 5,000 4,470 4,370 4,200

Marine Corpsb

 2,947 3,038 3,215 3,353 3,330 3,031

Air Force 1,238 1,452 1,590 1,572 1,480 1,487

Army National Guard 2,650 2,664 2,622 2,580 2,702 4,448

Army Reserve 1,259 1,100 1,034 905 841 1,296

Navy Reserve N/A N/A 733 733 733 733

Air National Guard 347 353 371 373 373 376

Air Force Reserve 229 237 263 264 258 245

24In fiscal year 2003, we reported that DOD needed to improve its ability to measure the 

impact of its advertising programs on its recruiting efforts. Since this report, some of the 

components have made efforts to monitor their advertising program performance to better 

measure return on investment. See GAO, Military Recruiting: DOD Needs to Establish 

Objectives and Measures to Better Evaluate Advertising’s Effectiveness, GAO-03-1005 

(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 19, 2003). 
Page 31 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

program offers soldiers who have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom or 

Operation Enduring Freedom the opportunity to return to their hometowns 

and assist the local recruiters in gaining high school graduate leads and 

enlistments. 

Army officials stated that this program not only improves the number of 

contacts it makes, but it also provides interested individuals with a 

different perspective on operations overseas, which can assist in 

counteracting some of the negative information potential recruits receive 

from the media or influencers. The Army National Guard refocused its 

advertising by standardizing the appearance of its storefront recruiting 

offices to increase recognition and opening career centers in locations that 

provided it greater market exposure and access to the target populations. 

Additionally, the Army National Guard initiated a new “American Soldier” 

campaign that refines its message since September 11, 2001, and reflects 

the new realities of a prolonged recruiting and retention environment.

Some DOD Components 

Have Increased Financial 

Incentives to Recruits and 

Servicemembers

DOD components also made adjustments to their financial incentives—the 

most costly of the three tools—to improve their ability to recruit and retain 

servicemembers. Over the last fiscal year, DOD made changes to existing 

financial incentives and introduced new financial incentives. For example, 

DOD expanded the pool of servicemembers who are eligible to receive a 

selective reenlistment bonus. Selective reenlistment bonuses are designed 

to provide a financial incentive for an adequate number of qualified midcareer enlisted members to reenlist in designated “critical” occupational 

specialties where retention levels are insufficient to sustain current or 

projected levels necessary for a component to accomplish its mission. The 

statutory authority for this bonus was amended in the Fiscal Year 2004 

Authorization Act to allow the Secretary of Defense to waive the critical 

skill25 requirement for members who reenlist or extend an enlistment while 

serving in Afghanistan, Iraq, or Kuwait in support of Operations Enduring 

Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.26

In addition, in February 2005, DOD announced a new retention bonus for 

Special Operations Forces servicemembers (Army Special Forces, Navy 

SEALs, Air Force pararescue, plus a few other occupational specialties) 

25The definition for critical skill is provided in table 7.

26National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, Pub. L. No. 108-136, § 626 (2003).
Page 32 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

who decide to remain in the military beyond 19 years of service. The largest 

bonus, $150,000, may be provided to eligible servicemembers who sign up 

for an additional 6 years of service. Eligible servicemembers who sign up 

for shorter extensions may qualify for smaller bonuses; servicemembers 

who extend for 1 additional year, for example, receive $8,000.

Individual components also implemented changes over the last fiscal year. 

Specifically, to address recruiting, the active Army component 

implemented a minimum $5,000 bonus for all qualified recruits—generally 

based on graduation from high school and their scores on the Armed 

Forces Qualification Test—who enlist for 3 or more years in any military 

occupational specialty. Additionally, qualified recruits with bachelor’s 

degrees who enlist for 2 or more years in any occupational specialty may 

now receive bonuses up to $8,000; previously there were no bonuses for 

recruits with those educational qualifications. The Army also increased its 

maximum enlistment bonus amount, from $10,000 up to $14,000, for 

applicants who enlist for 3 or more years into certain occupational 

specialties, such as Cannon Crewmember, Cavalry Scout, and CryptoLinguist Analyst. 

To address retention, the active Army, Navy, and Air Force components 

implemented the Critical Skills Retention Bonus program and the 

Assignment Incentive Pay program. The Critical Skills Retention Bonus 

program allows the components to target reenlistment bonuses at certain 

occupational specialties that have been identified as critical. The bonus is 

adjusted to meet current operational needs. For example, in fiscal year 

2004, the Army offered the Critical Skills Retention Bonus to soldiers who 

were serving in special operations occupational specialties. In fiscal year 

2005, the Army granted eligibility to 11 additional occupational specialties. 

These occupational specialties included recruiters, unmanned aerial 

vehicle operators, psychological operations specialists, and explosive 

ordnance disposal specialists. The Assignment Incentive Pay program, 

which provides up to $1,500 a month for enlisted servicemembers, was 

approved by the Under Secretary of Defense for implementation by the 

Navy, Air Force, and Army in early 2005.27 Assignment Incentive Pay is used 

to encourage servicemembers to volunteer for difficult-to-fill occupational 

specialties or assignments in less desirable locations. For example, for 

personnel in special operations occupational specialties to qualify for this 

pay, servicemembers must have more than 25 years of service, be 

2737 U.S.C. § 307a. 
Page 33 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

designated by the Special Operations Command combatant commander as 

“operators,” and remain on active duty for an additional minimum of 12 

months.

The Army also implemented a Life Cycle Unit Bonus program designed to 

encourage servicemembers to commit to hard-to-fill occupational 

specialties in targeted units in fiscal year 2005. Army officials stated that 

this may help them address shortages of soldiers assigned to units at 

certain locations. When the program began, soldiers received up to $15,000 

if they reenlisted and agreed to serve in certain units stationed at Fort 

Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Bliss and Fort Hood, Texas; and Fort Lewis, 

Washington.

During fiscal year 2005, the Army Reserve and Army National Guard also 

increased some of their incentives to address recruiting and retention 

efforts. In fiscal year 2005, the Army allowed the reserve and National 

Guard components to increase their prior service enlistment bonus from 

$8,000 up to $15,000. Additionally, the bonus amount for a new recruit with 

no prior military experience increased from $8,000 to $10,000. 

Components Provide 

Limited Justifications to 

DOD on Financial 

Incentives Given to 

Servicemembers in 

Overfilled Occupational 

Specialties

Although we found that the components regularly offered financial 

incentives to servicemembers in consistently underfilled occupational 

specialties, we also found that each of the active duty components 

provided enlistment bonuses, selective reenlistment bonuses, or both to 

servicemembers in consistently overfilled occupational specialties.28 DOD 

only requires the components to provide general justifications for their 

financial incentives in their budget documents and does not require the 

components to specifically provide justifications for these incentives for 

noncritical occupational specialties, which make up at least 84 percent of 

all occupational specialties. Table 9 shows the number of consistently 

overfilled active component occupational specialties in which 

servicemembers received enlistment bonuses, selective reenlistment 

bonuses, or both, from fiscal years 2000 through 2005. 

28We only analyzed bonus data for active duty components since bonuses for reserve and 

National Guard components depend on geographic locations due to their geographic 

recruiting limitations and state missions, respectively.
Page 34 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 9: Number of Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties for Which Active Duty Servicemembers Received 

Enlistment Bonuses, Selective Reenlistment Bonuses, or Both for 5 or 6 Years from 2000 through 2005

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

The number of consistently overfilled occupational specialties in which 

servicemembers received enlistment bonuses, selective reenlistment 

bonuses, or both for 5 or 6 years is relatively low when compared to the 

total number of occupational specialties. However, the number of 

overfilled occupational specialties for which bonuses were authorized in a 

particular year can be considerably higher. 

Table 10 shows the number of all overfilled occupational specialties in 

which servicemembers received either an enlistment or selective 

reenlistment bonus for fiscal years 2000 through 2005. For example, in 

2003, 278 out of all 625 active duty occupational specialties, or 44 percent, 

were overfilled, and servicemembers in these occupational specialties 

received enlistment or selective reenlistment bonuses.

Table 10: Number of Overfilled Occupational Specialties for Which Active Duty Servicemembers Received Bonuses from 2000 

through 2005

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Active duty component

Total number of

occupational

specialties (2005)

Number of consistently

overfilled occupational

specialties

Number of consistently overfilled occupational

specialties

Enlistment bonus

Selective reenlistment

bonus

Army 182 33 12 1

Navy 74 1 1 0

Marine Corps 245 51 29 22

Air Force 124 10 1 1

Total 625 95 43 24

Active duty 

component 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Army 54 67 84 86 79 64

Navy 2 2 1 42 18 22

Marine Corps 77 92 98 121 82 106

Air Force 15 8 14 29 27 9

Total 148 169 197 278 206 201
Page 35 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Component officials provided reasons why they offered enlistment and 

selective reenlistment bonuses to servicemembers in overfilled 

occupational specialties. Specifically, an Army official explained that they 

will target their bonuses to servicemembers at specific pay grades that are 

actually underfilled, even if the occupational specialty as a whole may be 

overfilled. Additionally, an official we spoke with stated that the 

requirement to meet legislatively mandated aggregate personnel levels 

results in, at times, offering bonuses to servicemembers who will serve in 

overfilled specialties, simply to meet their overall mandated personnel 

levels. 

Because enlistment and selective reenlistment bonuses generally range 

from a few thousand dollars up to $60,000, providing these bonuses to 

servicemembers in overfilled occupational specialties can be quite costly.29

While OUSD requires components to report incentives given to 

servicemembers in critical occupational specialties, it does not require the 

components to provide fully transparent rationales for incentives it 

provides to servicemembers in noncritical occupational specialties, which 

as we have stated, make up at least 84 percent of the components’ total 

occupational specialties. Some of these noncritical occupational 

specialties have been consistently overfilled in the past 6 fiscal years. By 

not requiring the components to fully justify their rationale for providing 

incentives to servicemembers in the consistently over- and underfilled 

occupational specialties, OUSD lacks the information needed to provide 

assurance to the Secretary of Defense and Congress that the amount of 

funding spent on recruiting and retention efforts is appropriately and 

effectively targeted to occupational specialties for which the components 

have the greatest need.

Conclusions Although DOD has reported that the components have generally met 

overall recruiting and retention goals for the past several years, meeting 

these goals in the aggregate can disguise the true challenges behind the 

components’ ability to recruit and retain servicemembers in the 

occupational specialities needed to fulfill their mission requirements. The 

fact that several occupational specialties have been consistently overfilled 

raises critical questions about affordability and whether the department is 

using its recruiting and retention resources most effectively. Similarly, 

29This excludes the $150,000 bonus provided only to qualified servicemembers in the special 

operations occupational specialties. 
Page 36 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

DOD’s consistently underfilled occupational specialties raise concerns as 

to how the department can meet operational demands with what appear to 

be chronic shortages in certain occupational specialties. This latter issue is 

particularly relevant given the stresses on the force from prolonged 

operations in Iraq; the Global War on Terrorism; and most recently, 

significant disaster relief efforts in the Gulf Coast region. DOD is not in a 

position to develop a comprehensive recruiting and retention plan to 

address these and other issues because it lacks complete information from 

the 10 components on the occupational specialties that are over- or 

underfilled and the reasons why these conditions exist. Moreover, without 

this information, the department is not in a position to effectively 

communicate its true recruiting and retention challenges to Congress.

Recently, Congress has provided increasing amounts of funding to assist 

DOD’s recruiting and retention efforts. While some components have used 

this funding to increase financial incentives to address both aggregate and 

occupational-specialty-specific recruiting and retention challenges, these 

increases in incentives are costly. Given the fiscally constrained 

environment we are facing now and in years to come, DOD can no longer 

afford to take a “business as usual” approach to managing its force. In some 

cases, DOD’s components have provided financial incentives to 

servicemembers in occupational specialties that are overfilled. While there 

may be valid reasons for providing these incentives to some 

servicemembers in these occupational specialities, DOD does not require 

the components to fully justify their decisions on financial incentives, 

which restricts the department’s ability to provide assurance to the 

Secretary of Defense, Congress, and the taxpayer that the increasing 

funding spent on recruiting and retention is appropriately and effectively 

targeted to occupational specialties for which components have the 

greatest need. 

Recommendations for 

Executive Action

To provide greater understanding of the recruiting and retention issues and 

improve the department’s oversight for these issues, we recommend that 

the Secretary of Defense direct the Under Secretary of Defense for 

Personnel and Readiness, in concert with the Assistant Secretary of 

Defense for Reserve Affairs, to take the following two actions:

• Require the 10 components to

• report annually on all (not just critical) over- and underfilled 

occupational specialties,
Page 37 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

• provide an analysis of why occupational specialties are over- and 

underfilled, and

• report annually on and justify their use of enlistment and 

reenlistment bonuses provided to servicemembers in occupational 

specialties that exceed their authorized personnel levels.

• Develop a management action plan that will help the components to 

identify and address the root causes of their recruiting and retention 

challenges. 

Agency Comments and 

Our Evaluation

In written comments on a draft of this report, DOD partially concurred with 

our two recommendations. DOD’s comments are included in this report as 

appendix V. 

DOD partially concurred with our first recommendation to require the ten 

components to report annually to the Office of the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Personnel and Readiness on all over- and underfilled 

occupational specialties; provide an analysis of why specific occupational 

specialties are over- and underfilled; and report annually on and justify 

their use of enlistment and reenlistment bonuses provided to 

servicemembers in occupational specialties that exceed their authorized 

personnel levels. DOD stated that it already has visibility over 

occupational specialties deemed most critical for retention, which it 

captures through the Balanced Scorecard process. However, as we note in 

this report, the occupational specialties that the components report as 

critical for recruitment or retention account for only a small percentage of 

the total number of occupational specialties—at most only 16 percent of all 

occupational specialties are reported as critical. Therefore, the department 

does not have visibility over at least 84 percent of its occupational 

specialties. DOD asserted that our definition of over- and underfilled 

occupational specialties (those that were over- or under their authorized 

levels by one or more individuals) is unreasonably strict. However, as we 

note in this report, we established this definition because we found that 

DOD lacks common criteria that define thresholds for over- and underfilled 

occupational specialties. In prior work, we determined that it costs the 

federal government about $103,000 annually, on average, to compensate 

each enlisted active duty servicemember in fiscal year 2004; thus we 

believe each individual serving in an occupational specialty that is over the 

authorized personnel level represents a significant cost to the government. 

For example, we found about 8,400 active duty servicemembers serving in 
Page 38 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

consistently overfilled occupational specialties in 2005. If we apply the 

2004 average compensation amount to the 8,400 servicemembers, the 

additional cost to the taxpayer would be about $870 million. In addition, 

the taxpayer bears the unnecessary costs of supporting over 22,000 

servicemembers in consistently overfilled occupational specialties in the 

reserve and National Guard components. DOD also provided in its 

response an example of an overfilled occupational specialty, and its 

rationale that this occupational specialty was overfilled as a function of 

ramping up to meet a future strength requirement. Our report 

acknowledges this and other reasons the components provided for overand underfilled occupational specialties. We believe that this example 

underscores the need for our recommendation that the components 

provide an analysis of why occupational specialties are over- or underfilled. 

Without this type of analysis, OSD is not in a position to assess the extent to 

which all specialties are over- or underfilled, determine if the overfilled and 

underfilled positions are justified, and identify any needed corrective 

action. Also, DOD agreed with the need to closely manage financial 

incentive programs. However, we believe that DOD needs sufficient 

information from the components to determine if the reasons for offering 

bonuses to individuals in consistently overfilled occupational specialties 

are, indeed, justified. We continue to be concerned that all financial 

incentives may not be justified. Currently, the components are not required 

to provide fully transparent rationales for bonuses they provide to 

servicemembers in noncritical occupational specialties, which as we have 

stated earlier, make up at least 84 percent of the components total 

occupational specialties. Without greater transparency over the use of 

financial incentives, the department cannot truly know if funding spent on 

recruiting and retention efforts is appropriately and effectively targeted to 

occupational specialties for which the components have the greatest need. 

DOD partially concurred with our second recommendation to develop a 

management action plan that will help the components to identify and 

address the root causes of their recruiting and retention challenges. In 

response, DOD noted that its Enlisted Personnel Management Plan 

(EPMP), formally established by DOD Directive 1304.20 in July 2005, 

substantially achieves this recommendation. We believe DOD is moving in 

the right direction in addressing recruiting and retention challenges and, in 

this report, we acknowledge that DOD issued directive 1304.20 that 

requires the components to meet aggregate and occupational specialty 

specific authorized personnel levels. However, this plan cited in DOD’s 

comments did not exist at the time we conducted our audit work and we 

believe DOD needs to continue to move forward to establish this plan. 
Page 39 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

DOD also stated that it has already laid the framework for this type of plan 

through monthly reviews of other reports and quarterly reviews of its 

Balanced Scorecard reports. DOD claimed these omissions in our draft 

report result in an incomplete description of management controls. We 

disagree since as stated earlier, the EPMP did not exist at the time we 

conducted our audit work and furthermore, we do acknowledge in this 

report that the department receives quarterly updates of critical 

occupational specialties through the Office of the Under Secretary of 

Defense’s personnel and readiness report. Nevertheless, we continue to 

believe that these updates do not provide OSD with full transparency and 

oversight since these quarterly updates do not include information on at 

least 84 percent of active duty occupational specialties or any of the 

combined 859 occupational specialties of the reserve and National Guard 

components.

We are sending copies of this report to interested congressional members; 

the Secretaries of Defense, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force; the 

Commandant of the Marine Corps; and the Chiefs of the National Guard 

Bureau, the Army Reserve, the Army National Guard, the Air Force 

Reserve, the Air National Guard, the Navy Reserve, and the Marine Corps 

Reserve. We will also make copies available to others upon request. In 

addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO’s Web site at 

http://www.gao.gov.

Should you or your staff have any questions regarding this report, please 

contact me at (202) 512-5559 or stewartd@gao.gov. Contact points for our 

Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the 

last page of this report. GAO staff members who made key contributions to 

this report are listed in appendix VI. 

Derek B. Stewart, Director

Defense Capabilities and Management
Page 40 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

List of Congressional Committees

The Honorable John Warner

Chairman

The Honorable Carl Levin

Ranking Minority Member

Committee on Armed Services

United States Senate

The Honorable Lindsey Graham

Chairman

The Honorable Ben Nelson

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Personnel

Committee on Armed Services

United States Senate

The Honorable Duncan L. Hunter

Chairman

The Honorable Ike Skelton

Ranking Minority Member

Committee on Armed Services

House of Representatives

The Honorable John M. McHugh

Chairman

The Honorable Vic Snyder

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Military Personnel

Committee on Armed Services

House of Representatives
Page 41 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Appendix I

Scope and Methodology AAppenednxidexiIs

To conduct this body of work, we examined Department of Defense (DOD) 

policies, regulations, and directives related to recruiting and retention of 

military servicemembers. We also reviewed recruiting and retention 

reports and briefings issued by GAO, DOD, the military services, the 

Congressional Research Service, the Congressional Budget Office, and 

research organizations such as RAND. Furthermore, we analyzed 

individual components’ databases containing recruiting and retention data 

on active, reserve, and National Guard servicemembers. In the course of 

our work, we contacted and visited the organizations and offices listed in 

table 11.

Table 11: Organizations and Offices Contacted during Our Review

Name of organization or office Location

Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Deputy Chief of 

Staff, Personnel 

Arlington, VA

Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, Office of Air Force 

Reserve

Rosslyn, VA

Air Force Recruiting Service Randolph Air Force Base, TX

Air Force Personnel Center Randolph Air Force Base, TX

Air Force’s 341st Recruiting Squadron and 369th

Recruiting Group

Lackland Air Force Base, TX

Air National Guard, Office of Recruiting and 

Retention, National Guard Bureau

Arlington, VA

Army National Guard, Retention/Attrition Branch 

and Accessions Branch, National Guard Bureau

Arlington, VA

Headquarters, Department of the Army, Office of 

the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel

Arlington, VA

U.S. Army Accessions Command Fort Monroe, VA

U.S. Army Recruiting Command Fort Knox, KY

U.S. Army Reserve Command Fort McPherson, GA

Office of the Chief Army Reserve Arlington, VA

Marine Corps Recruiting Command Quantico, VA

Marine Corps Manpower & Reserve Affairs Quantico, VA

Marine Forces Reserve New Orleans, LA

Navy Recruiting Command Millington, TN
Appendix I

Scope and Methodology

Page 42 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO.

To determine the extent to which the active duty, reserve, and National 

Guard components met their aggregate recruiting and retention goals, we 

compared accession and reenlistment goals to their actual figures for fiscal 

years 2000 through 2005. Additionally, through interviews with agency 

officials, we obtained data on the extent to which the components have 

instituted stop loss in some units, recalled members of the Individual 

Ready Reserve, and recruited new enlistees into their delayed entry 

programs. 

To determine the extent to which the components have met their 

authorized personnel levels for specific occupational specialties, we 

obtained data from the components on the number of servicemembers 

authorized and assigned for each occupational specialty as of September 30 

for fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and June 30 for fiscal year 2005. We 

calculated the fill rate for each occupational specialty by dividing the 

number of servicemembers assigned to the occupational specialty by the 

authorization. We then counted the number of years that each occupational 

specialty in each component was over- or underfilled. Because most of the 

components have not identified acceptable thresholds for over- and 

underfilled occupational specialties, we used the strictest interpretation of 

these terms. In our analysis, if a component had one person more than its 

authorization, we considered the occupational specialty to be overfilled. 

Similiarly, if a component had one person less than its authorization, we 

considered the occupational specialty to be underfilled. If an occupational 

specialty was overfilled for at least 5 of the 6 years, we considered the 

occupational specialty “consistently” overfilled. Similarly, if an 

occupational specialty was underfilled for at least 5 of the 6 years, we 

considered the occupational specialty “consistently” underfilled. Some 

occupational specialties have changed over the 6-year period of our 

analyses. In these cases, we combined the original and new occupational 

specialties. For example, in the Army, the occupational specialty for Divers 

changed the identifier from 00B to 21D in 2004. We combined these two 

occupational specialties by summing the entries for each year and retaining 

it in our data set as one entry. In those cases where we could not determine 

Navy Personnel Command Millington, TN

Navy Reserve Forces Command New Orleans, LA

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for 

Personnel and Readiness

Arlington, VA

(Continued From Previous Page)

Name of organization or office Location
Appendix I

Scope and Methodology

Page 43 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

how to merge occupational specialties, we retained the original data in our 

data set. 

To analyze the steps DOD and the components have taken to address their 

recruiting and retention difficulties, we interviewed key DOD officials from 

each component, including headquarters and recruiting commands, to 

obtain an understanding of recruiter, advertising, and incentive programs 

as well as overall recruiting and retention difficulties. We determined, 

through a review of DOD budget justifications for fiscal years 2000 through 

2006, the associated costs of these programs. We also interviewed Office of 

the Secretary of Defense officials to understand overall DOD policies and 

future direction for reviewing recruiting and retention goals. We obtained 

and reviewed various accession plans, incentive programs, and marketing 

initiatives. To determine the extent to which personnel in consistently 

overfilled occupational specialties received bonuses, we obtained data 

from the active components on the occupational specialties for which 

servicemembers were qualified to receive enlistment or reenlistment 

bonuses in fiscal years 2000 through 2004 and for fiscal year 2005 as of 

June 30. We compared the occupational specialties for which 

servicemembers received bonuses to those occupational specialties that 

we found to be consistently overfilled, as well as those that were overfilled 

in any year. We limited our analysis to the active components because the 

reserve components tend to provide enlistment and reenlistment bonuses 

geographically. All dollar amounts were adjusted for inflation using the 

gross domestic product price index published by the Bureau of Economic 

Analysis.

To determine the reliability of data obtained for this report, we interviewed 

personnel from each component knowledgeable about the data sources we 

used, inquiring about their methods for ensuring that the data were 

accurate. We reviewed available data for inconsistencies and, when 

applicable, followed up with personnel to assess data validity and 

reliability. We determined that the data were sufficiently reliable to answer 

our objectives. 

We conducted our work from January 2005 through October 2005 in 

accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Page 44 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Appendix II

Enlisted Aggregate Recruiting Goals and 

Achievements for Fiscal Years 2000 through 

2005 ApendxiI

Tables 12 and 13 show the active, Reserve, and National Guard 

components’ recruiting achievements for fiscal years 2000 through 2005.

Table 12: Active Components’ Enlisted Aggregate Recruiting Goals and Achievements for Fiscal Years 2000 through 2005

Source: DOD.

Fiscal 

year 

Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force 

Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met

 

Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met

2000 80,000 80,113 100 55,000 55,147 100 32,417 32,440 100 34,600 35,217 102

2001 75,800 75,855 100 53,520 53,690 100 31,404 31,429 100 34,600 35,381 102

2002 79,500 79,585 100 46,150 46,155 100 32,593 32,767 101 37,283 37,967 102

2003 73,800 74,132 100 41,065 41,076 100 32,501 32,530 100 37,000 37,141 100

2004 77,000 77,586 101 39,620 39,871 101 30,608 30,618 100 34,080 34,361 101

2005 80,000 73,373 92 37,635 37,703 100 32,917 32,961 100 18,900 19,222 102
Appendix II

Enlisted Aggregate Recruiting Goals and 

Achievements for Fiscal Years 2000 through 

2005

Page 45 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 13: Reserve and National Guard Components’ Enlisted Aggregate Recruiting Goals and Achievements for Fiscal Years 

2000 through 2005

Source: DOD.

Army National Guard Army Reserve Navy Reserve

Fiscal Year 

Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met Goal Actual

Percentage of

goal met

2000 54,034 61,260 113 48,461 48,596 100 18,410 14,911 81

2001 60,252 61,956 103 34,910 35,522 102 15,250 15,344 101

2002 60,504 63,251 105 38,251 41,385 107 15,000 15,355 102

2003 66,000 54,202 82 40,900 41,851 102 12,000 12,772 106

2004 56,002 48,793 87 32,275 32,710 101 10,101 11,246 111

2005 63,002 50,219 80 28,485 23,859 84 11,141 9,788 88

Marine Corps Reserve Air National Guard Air Force Reserve

Fiscal Year 

Goal Actual 

Percentage

of goal met Goal Actual 

Percentage

of goal met Goal Actual 

Percentage of

goal met

2000 9,341 9,465 101 10,080 10,730 106 9,624 7,740 80

2001 8,945 9,117 102 11,808 10,258 87 8,051 8,826 110

2002 9,835 10,090 103 9,570 10,122 106 6,080 6,926 114

2003 8,173 8,222 101 5,712 8,471 148 7,512 7,557 101

2004 8,087 8,248 102 8,842 8,276 94 7,997 8,904 111

2005 8,180 8,350 102 10,272 8,859 86 8,801 9,942 113
Page 46 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Appendix III

Active Duty Enlisted Aggregate Retention 

Goals and Achievements for Fiscal Years 2000 

through 2005 ApendxiI

Source: DOD.

Note: N/A indicates that data were not available or incomplete.

a

The Air Force introduced new metrics—Average Career Length and Cumulative Continuation 

Rates—in July 2005 to more accurately measure enlisted retention patterns.

Service

Fiscal year 2000 Fiscal year 2001 Fiscal year 2002

Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met

Army

Initial

20,000 21,402 107.0% 19,750 20,000 101.3% 19,100 19,433 101.7%

Mid-career

23,700 24,118 101.8% 23,350 23,727 101.6% 22,700 23,074 101.6%

 Career

24,300 25,791 106.1% 20,900 21,255 101.7% 15,000 15,700 104.7%

Navy

 Zone A

N/A 29.6% N/A 57% 56.9% 99.8% 56% 58.7% 104.8%

 Zone B

N/A 46.5% N/A 69% 68.2% 98.8% 73% 74.5% 102.1%

 Zone C

N/A 56.6% N/A 89% 85.0% 95.5% 90% 87.4% 97.1%

Marine Corps

 First term

5,791 5,846 100.9% 6,144 6,144 100.0% 5,900 6,050 102.5%

Subsequent

N/A 63.4% N/A N/A 5,900 N/A 5,784 7,258 125.5%

Air Forcea

 First term

55% 53.1% 96.5% 55% 56.1% 102.0% 55% 72.1% 131.1%

Second term

75% 69.7% 92.9% 75% 68.9% 91.9% 75% 78.3% 104.4%

 Career

95% 90.8% 95.6% 95% 90.2% 94.9% 95% 94.6% 99.6%
Appendix III

Active Duty Enlisted Aggregate Retention 

Goals and Achievements for Fiscal Years 2000 

through 2005

Page 47 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

The tables presented in appendix IV show each component’s consistently 

over- and underfilled occupational specialties for fiscal year 2000 through 

June 2005.

Fiscal year 2003 Fiscal year 2004 Fiscal year 2005

Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met Goal Actual

Percentage

of goal met

19,821 21,838 110.2% 23,000 24,903 108.3% 26,935 27,818 103.3%

18,422 19,509 105.9% 20,292 21,120 104.1% 23,773 24,407 102.7%

12,757 12,804 100.4% 12,808 13,987 109.2% 13,454 17,287 128.5%

56% 61.8% 110.4% 56% 54.1% 96.6% 53% 51.8% 97.7%

73% 76.7% 105.1% 70% 70.2% 100.3% 69% 63.2% 91.6%

86% 87.9% 102.2% 85% 86.9% 102.2% 85% 84.8% 99.8%

6,025 6,001 99.6% 5,974 6,011 100.6% 5,949 6,152 103.4%

6,172 5,815 94.2% 5,628 7,729 137.3% 5,079 6,987 137.6%

55% 60.5% 110.0% 55% 63% 114.5% 52% 56% 107.7%

75% 72.9% 92.3% 75% 70% 93.3% 69% 80% 115.9%

95% 95.2% 100.2% 95% 97% 102.1% 85% 90% 105.9%
Page 48 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties ApendxiIV

Table 14: Army’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational specialty 

title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa

AH-64D Armament/ 

Electrical/ Avionic 

Systems Repairer 97 239.2 SRB, EB 276 104.7 SRB, EB 503 85.5 SRB, EB

Avenger Crewmember 2,618 98.3 SRB, EB 2,510 101.3 EB 2,307 102.0 SRB, EB

Avenger System 

Repairer 226 91.6 SRB, EB 223 109.4 SRB, EB 227 118.1 SRB, EB

Avionic Communications 

Equipment Repairer 172 107.0 SRB, EB 168 124.4 SRB, EB 171 115.8 EB

Bridge Crewmember 689 100.9 SRB, EB 643 124.7 SRB, EB 660 104.8 EB

Cannon Crewmember 8,795 103.1 SRB, EB 8,541 96.9 SRB, EB 8,546 101.7 SRB, EB

Cavalry Scout 6,524 98.8 SRB, EB 6,522 103.8 SRB, EB 6,612 103.4 SRB, EB

Combat Documentation/

Production Specialist 357 114.8 EB 358 112.8 EB 350 101.1 EB

Combat Engineer 8,109 109.4 SRB, EB 8,148 104.2 SRB, EB 8,169 97.0 EB

Construction 

Engineering Supervisor 423 95.3 419 102.9 439 103.4

Construction Equipment 

Supervisor 447 101.3 431 106.3 466 103.9

Electronic Maintenance 

Chief 436 101.8 409 102.2 396 102.5

Firefighter 214 133.2 EB 243 103.3 EB 242 96.3 EB

General Engineering 

Supervisor 135 103.0 131 101.5 132 96.2

Infantry Senior Sergeant 181 105.0 276 450.7 1,283 98.0

Interior Electrician 134 120.1 EB 127 147.2 SRB, EB 128 152.3 EB

M1 Armor Crewman 9,560 102.5 EB 9,338 95.8 SRB, EB 8,987 102.0 EB

Machinist 384 112.0 SRB, EB 382 114.7 EB 378 103.7 EB

Microwave Systems 

Operator-Maintainer 1,179 96.6 SRB, EB 1,146 106.4 SRB, EB 1,114 116.0 SRB, EB

Mortuary Affairs 

Specialist 326 107.4 EB 339 113.6 EB 358 106.7 EB

Multimedia Illustrator 285 116.1 EB 279 109.7 SRB, EB 281 104.3 EB

OH-58D Armament/ 

Electrical/ Avionics 

Systems Repairer 0 0.0 EB 48 1554.2 SRB, EB 511 156.0 SRB, EB

OH-58D Helicopter 

Repairer 1,067 98.8 SRB, EB 1,072 108.2 SRB, EB 1,063 109.1 EB

Patient Administration 

Specialist 758 114.0 EB 757 110.2 EB 741 104.9
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 49 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

592 100.3 EB 714 112.3 EB 834 113.9 EB

2,258 102.7 EB 1,771 116.4 1,190 140.9 EB

219 113.2 SRB, EB 178 115.7 SRB, EB 165 119.4 EB

167 124.0 162 119.1 227 79.7 SRB, EB

622 109.6 EB 625 107.0 SRB, EB 743 93.4 SRB, EB

8,519 107.0 EB 8,870 105.5 EB 8,831 102.7 EB

6,742 110.4 EB 7,502 103.4 SRB, EB 7,569 113.0 SRB, EB

342 102.9 337 100.9 299 108.0 EB

8,230 103.0 SRB, EB 8,047 108.9 SRB, EB 7,710 109.4 SRB, EB

447 106.3 457 106.8 479 102.3

466 100.9 469 104.9 453 104.2

426 107.5 415 102.4 SRB 372 116.7

249 102.8 249 113.7 SRB 206 123.8 SRB, EB

132 111.4 137 102.9 128 102.3

1,266 108.5 1,320 104.6 1,432 101.3

128 139.1 131 109.2 SRB 131 101.5 SRB, EB

8,931 110.9 EB 9,201 112.8 SRB, EB 8,866 110.6 EB

362 100.6 342 102.9 313 121.7

1,080 123.6 EB 1039 116.4 EB 981 108.3 EB

339 119.8 345 109.3 SRB 343 112.5 SRB, EB

271 105.9 EB 267 102.2 EB 267 102.6 EB

637 133.0 EB 794 106.4 SRB, EB 734 109.8 EB

917 119.1 865 118.5 738 119.4 EB

698 109.9 721 107.4 730 108.1 EB
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 50 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

a

“SRB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received a selected reenlistment 

bonus. “EB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received an enlistment bonus.

Senior 

Noncommissioned 

Logistician 130 113.8 135 117.0 140 105.7

Senior Signal Sergeant 106 119.8 102 110.8 107 93.5

Shower/ Laundry and 

Clothing Repair 

Specialist 847 116.3 EB 873 121.9 EB 896 114.8 EB

Signals Intelligence 

(Electronic Warfare)/ 

Senior Sergeant/ Chief 31 116.1 36 569.4 227 102.6

Special Band Member 280 188.2 EB 521 99.8 SRB, EB 521 101.7 SRB, EB

Technical Engineer 245 114.7 EB 246 133.7 SRB, EB 258 128.3 EB

Test, Measurement, and 

Diagnostic Equipment 

Maintenance Support 

Specialist 168 132.7 EB 168 130.4 SRB, EB 179 106.7 EB

Topographic Surveyor 110 107.3 SRB 110 107.3 SRB, EB 110 114.5 EB

Visual Information 

Operations Chief 114 93.9 113 105.3 113 108.0

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty 

title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 51 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

138 119.6 139 105.0 154 94.2

100 108.0 99 108.1 98 109.2

811 109.2 EB 803 100.1 EB 800 94.0 SRB, EB

220 113.6 232 99.6 214 103.7

521 103.5 SRB 523 102.3 SRB, EB 523 101.9 SRB, EB

256 115.6 256 105.1 240 100.8 EB

170 120.0 EB 175 112.6 SRB, EB 190 91.6 SRB

111 107.2 110 105.5 SRB 112 111.6 SRB, EB

110 114.5 107 106.5 97 114.4

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 52 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 15: Army’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Administrative 

Specialist 9,382 95.8 9,112 99.7 SRB 8,969 97.4

Aircraft Pneudraulics 

Repairer 364 89.0 SRB, EB 360 93.6 SRB, EB 362 95.3 SRB, EB

Army Bandperson 1,330 96.8 SRB, EB 1,316 95.5 SRB, EB 1,334 90.9 SRB, EB

Automated Logistical 

Specialist 11,922 95.2 EB 11,802 97.5 SRB, EB 11,648 96.6 EB

Aviation Operations 

Specialist 1,686 93.4 SRB, EB 1,695 99.1 SRB, EB 1,724 99.9 EB

Avionic Mechanic 524 106.5 EB 508 87.0 SRB, EB 637 62.6 EB

Career Counselor 724 95.3 720 100.3 772 93.8

Chaplain Assistant 1,274 98.8 EB 1,289 101.0 SRB, EB 1,295 97.0 EB

Chemical Operations 

Specialist 6,091 93.9 SRB, EB 6,066 96.0 SRB, EB 6,092 98.2 SRB, EB

Explosive Ordnance 

Disposal Specialist 965 89.2 SRB, EB 947 87.1 SRB, EB 950 84.6 EB

Field Artillery 

Automated Tactical 

Data System 

Specialist 148 0.0 EB 1,189 33.4 SRB, EB 1,605 58.9 SRB, EB

Health Care 

Specialist 16,001 96.8 EB 16,073 96.2 SRB, EB 16,244 91.0 EB

Heavy Construction 

Equipment Operator 1,380 113.9 SRB, EB 1,173 92.8 SRB, EB 798 88.3 SRB, EB

Human Intelligence 

Collector 577 90.8 SRB, EB 604 84.1 SRB, EB 614 86.6 EB

Human Resources 

Information Systems 

Management 

Specialist 657 94.2 SRB, EB 635 97.0 SRB, EB 623 95.0 EB

Operating Room 

Specialist 981 94.4 SRB, EB 983 96.3 SRB, EB 941 95.0 SRB, EB

Paralegal Specialist 1,496 96.3 SRB, EB 1,483 98.9 SRB, EB 1,487 96.8 EB

Power-Generation 

Equipment Repairer 2,984 95.9 SRB, EB 2,981 97.6 SRB, EB 2,960 95.9 EB

Public Affairs 

Specialist 354 90.1 SRB, EB 349 88.0 SRB, EB 355 89.9 SRB, EB

Recruiter 3,242 91.2 SRB 3,164 98.1 SRB 3,212 100.0 SRB

Respiratory 

Specialist 230 92.6 SRB, EB 231 90.9 SRB, EB 240 87.1 SRB
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 53 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa

8,848 93.6 8,532 89.6 5,983 108.3 EB

368 97.6 SRB, EB 360 101.7 SRB, EB 385 96.6 EB

1,337 93.5 SRB, EB 1,335 95.1 SRB, EB 1,339 94.7 SRB, EB

11,715 99.0 EB 11,490 99.3 EB 11,395 98.9 SRB, EB

1,875 95.1 EB 2,113 86.2 EB 1,962 99.9 EB

435 91.7 451 95.6 SRB 446 98.9 SRB, EB

771 96.6 769 97.7 766 97.9

1,304 98.7 EB 1,329 98.0 EB 1,343 93.5 EB

6,410 99.7 SRB, EB 6,600 97.9 SRB, EB 0 0.0 SRB, EB

963 87.5 SRB, EB 989 79.3 SRB, EB 1,011 82.2 SRB, EB

2,240 79.8 SRB, EB 2,693 76.4 SRB, EB 2,757 77.4 SRB, EB

16,421 96.1 EB 17,075 97.0 SRB, EB 17,788 92.9 SRB, EB

695 74.8 SRB, EB 1828 72.0 SRB, EB 1228 99.2 EB

626 90.4 EB 798 71.2 SRB, EB 1013 64.9 SRB, EB

614 98.4 EB 610 97.5 EB 521 105.0 EB

944 95.4 936 99.8 884 107.2 EB

1,513 100.4 1,556 96.1 1,459 99.2 EB

2,970 100.7 EB 3,098 97.4 SRB, EB 3,130 98.6 SRB, EB

359 93.3 368 95.9 SRB 261 115.3 SRB, EB

3,082 95.5 3,087 97.1 SRB 3,050 99.9 SRB

234 89.3 SRB 230 93.9 SRB 235 103.4 SRB, EB
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 54 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

a

“SRB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received a selected reenlistment 

bonus. “EB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received an enlistment bonus.

Satellite 

Communication 

Systems OperatorMaintainer 1,624 95.0 SRB, EB 1,611 93.5 SRB, EB 1,769 92.9 SRB, EB

Signals 

Collector/Analyst 487 86.0 SRB, EB 523 82.8 SRB, EB 476 103.4 SRB, EB

Special Duty 

Assignment 109 10.1 108 7.4 118 4.2

Special Forces 

Assistant Operations 

and Intelligence 

Sergeant 474 84.0 460 78.7 SRB 472 66.1 SRB

Special Forces 

Communications 

Sergeant 903 81.1 SRB 882 86.1 SRB 893 93.1 SRB

Special Forces 

Engineer Sergeant 760 85.8 SRB 742 83.3 SRB 751 83.5 SRB

Special Forces 

Medical Sergeant 779 78.9 SRB 770 78.4 SRB 789 81.4 SRB

Veterinary Food 

Inspection Specialist 849 100.2 EB 849 93.4 EB 845 98.3 EB

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 55 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

1,799 107.1 SRB, EB 2106 95.9 SRB, EB 2,145 98.3 SRB, EB

500 97.8 517 97.7 SRB 577 87.9 SRB, EB

116 5.2 116 7.8 252 8.7

471 58.6 SRB 475 55.4 SRB 486 43.8 SRB

881 96.7 SRB 888 91.1 SRB 896 89.8 SRB

739 92.7 SRB 746 95.4 SRB 757 103.6 SRB

782 86.6 SRB 769 80.8 SRB 783 78.9 SRB

847 99.4 EB 845 97.2 SRB, EB 892 95.6 SRB, EB

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 56 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 16: Navy’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

a

“SRB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received a selected reenlistment

bonus. “EB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received an enlistment bonus.

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Seaman 16,172 136.4 EB 15,735 120.8 EB 15,978 102.8 EB
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 57 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

15,245 100.7 EB 13,929 126.4 EB 13,208 98.3 EB
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 58 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 17: Navy’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Aerographer’s Mate 1,408 74.9 SRB, EB 1,397 79.0 SRB, EB 1,412 81.7 SRB, EB

Air Traffic Controller 2,673 73.6 SRB, EB 2,694 77.8 SRB, EB 2,706 77.6 SRB, EB

Aircrew Survival 

Equipmentman 1,552 67.5 SRB, EB 1,620 74.3 SRB, EB 1,702 74.3 SRB, EB

Aviation Boatswain’s 

Mate 6,614 74.9 SRB, EB 6,773 80.9 SRB, EB 6,839 81.8 SRB, EB

Aviation Electronics 

Technician 10,334 72.0 SRB, EB 10,402 72.4 SRB, EB 10,618 73.1 SRB, EB

Aviation Machinist’s 

Mate 6,710 74.7 SRB, EB 6,851 81.3 SRB, EB 6,952 82.0 SRB, EB

Aviation Maintenance 

Administrationman 3,036 74.6 3,079 77.0 EB 3,155 75.9 EB

Aviation Ordnanceman 6,605 70.0 SRB, EB 6,924 74.4 SRB, EB 7,508 73.5 SRB, EB

Aviation Structural 

Mechanic 10,298 12.3 SRB, EB 10,446 70.4 SRB, EB 10,738 74.9 SRB, EB

Aviation Warfare 

Systems Operator 2,316 65.9 SRB 2,391 67.6 SRB 2,403 66.7 SRB

Builder 2,381 76.1 SRB 2,389 77.2 SRB 2,480 80.4 SRB, EB

Command Master 

Chief 656 69.5 665 74.9 674 73.6

Construction 

Electrician 1,160 74.8 SRB 1,172 75.2 SRB, EB 1,233 74.9 SRB

Construction Mechanic 1,540 79.2 SRB 1,556 72.8 SRB, EB 1,648 74.0 SRB, EB

Constructionman 356 14.6 348 45.4 347 8.4

Cryptologic Technician 10,440 74.8 SRB, EB 10,442 77.1 SRB, EB 10,441 82.9 SRB, EB

Damage Controlman 3,460 78.4 SRB, EB 3,440 84.4 SRB, EB 3,523 85.9 SRB, EB

Dental Technician 3,192 71.1 SRB, EB 3,240 78.7 SRB 3,169 78.6 SRB

Disbursing Clerk 1,757 65.2 SRB, EB 1,745 74.7 SRB, EB 1,760 79.1 SRB, EB

Diver 1,159 62.4 EB 1,177 63.4 EB 1,253 60.4 EB

Electronics Technician 15,879 73.2 SRB 15,619 79.1 SRB 15,925 79.5 SRB

Engineman 5,288 76.4 SRB, EB 5,325 80.4 SRB, EB 5,461 84.5 SRB, EB

Equipment Operator 1,444 69.9 SRB 1,461 65.2 SRB, EB 1,509 74.4 SRB, EB

Explosive Ordnance 

Disposal 889 50.5

SRB,

EB 910 48.9 EB 962 50.0 SRB

Fire Control Technician 1,363 59.9 SRB 1,389 61.3 SRB 1,412 65.6 SRB

Fire Controlman 8,461 72.1 SRB 8,535 84.6 SRB 8,637 85.2 SRB

Hospital Corpsman 24,204 65.7 SRB, EB 24,369 67.2 SRB, EB 24,787 70.9 SRB, EB

Hull Maintenance 

Technician 3,732 62.0 SRB, EB 3,661 68.2 SRB, EB 3,561 79.7 SRB, EB
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 59 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

1,406 100.6 SRB, EB 1,424 90.0 SRB, EB 1,300 97.5 SRB, EB

2,664 101.7 SRB, EB 2,660 95.6 SRB, EB 2,684 93.1 SRB, EB

1,663 104.8 SRB, EB 1,739 95.6 SRB, EB 1,924 94.5

SRB, EB

6,681 106.3 SRB, EB 6,727 94.8 SRB, EB 12,137 66.9

SRB, EB

10,385 103.7 SRB 10,295 99.4 SRB 10,385 95.6

SRB

6,805 110.4 SRB, EB 6,992 98.3 SRB, EB 7,923 87.2

SRB, EB

3,079 97.4 EB 3,120 96.0 EB 3,300 98.3

EB

7,211 105.5 SRB, EB 7,294 98.9 SRB, EB 9,181 85.4 SRB, EB

10,613 101.2 SRB, EB 10,641 97.3 SRB, EB 11,916 89.8

SRB, EB

2,404 97.7 SRB 2,498 91.4 SRB 2,216 102.9

SRB

2,435 105.6 SRB, EB 2,483 95.6 SRB, EB 2,480 93.3 SRB, EB

678 100.4 693 97.4 674 98.2

1,229 103.3 SRB, EB 1,235 97.5 SRB, EB 1,239 94.4

SRB, EB

1,646 99.0 SRB, EB 1,777 92.6 SRB, EB 1,792 98.4 SRB, EB

347 6.9 348 4.0 347 6.9

10,622 122.1 SRB, EB 12,762 98.2 SRB, EB 12,455 97.3 SRB, EB

3,355 101.9 SRB, EB 3,858 75.6 EB 3,744 85.5 SRB, EB

3,092 96.9 SRB, EB 3,136 89.6 SRB, EB 2,910 97.1 SRB, EB

1,658 107.2 SRB, EB 1,665 94.2 EB 1,547 95.2 SRB, EB

1,226 82.1 SRB 1,270 76.8 SRB 1,258 77.4 SRB

15,400 104.5 SRB 15,460 98.3 SRB 15,144 98.0 SRB

5,212 102.9 SRB, EB 5,566 85.0 EB 5,616 87.9 SRB, EB

1,473 110.0 SRB, EB 1,550 98.5 SRB, EB 1,546 95.3 SRB, EB

979 76.6 SRB 908 93.9 SRB 1,019 86.6 SRB

1,377 99.7 SRB 1,426 95.9 1,468 96.8

8,141 108.0 SRB 7,894 99.1 SRB 7,421 99.5 SRB

24,264 95.7 SRB, EB 24,685 94.6 SRB, EB 23,872 99.3 SRB, EB

3,399 104.2 SRB, EB 3,501 97.5 SRB, EB 3,427 98.7 SRB, EB
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 60 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

a

“SRB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received a selected reenlistment 

bonus. “EB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received an enlistment bonus.

Illustrator/

Draftsman 145 67.6 132 76.5 126 77.8

Information Systems 

Technician 11,728 75.4 SRB, EB 11,434 76.6 SRB, EB 11,479 74.2 SRB, EB

Intelligence Specialist 2,111 74.4 SRB, EB 2,152 81.9 SRB, EB 2,305 81.3 SRB, EB

Interior 

Communications 

Electrician 3,001 65.1 SRB, EB 2,889 75.2 SRB, EB 2,858 83.4 SRB, EB

Journalist 679 61.3 EB 656 71.6 659 75.7 EB

Lithographer 236 67.8 235 74.0 228 89.5 SRB, EB

Machinist’s Mate 17,666 75.9 SRB, EB 17,647 76.9 SRB, EB 17,920 79.1 SRB, EB

Mineman 686 70.7 SRB, EB 718 77.4 SRB, EB 780 88.6 SRB, EB

Musician 738 66.1 EB 748 66.3 EB 811 66.1 EB

Navy Counselor 1,357 69.6 SRB 1,379 69.3 SRB 1,532 61.2 SRB

Officer Candidate 

School 4,943 0.0 4,411 0.0 4,411 0.0

Personnelman 3,588 65.8 EB 3,600 70.2 EB 3,614 72.9 EB

Religious Program 

Specialist 843 73.9 EB 855 78.1 859 78.3

Seal, Special Warfare 1,775 55.7 SRB 1,759 55.4 SRB 1,690 60.3 SRB

Sonar Technician 6,348 72.4 SRB, EB 6,281 72.3 SRB, EB 6,307 75.8 SRB, EB

Special Warfare 

Combatant 

Crewmembers 390 29.0 SRB 395 34.7 SRB 458 32.8 SRB

Storekeeper 6,326 65.2 EB 6,352 71.5 SRB 6,904 73.2 SRB, EB

Utilities 

Constructionman 16 56.3 17 70.6 19 63.2

Utilitiesman 902 69.5 SRB 918 66.7 SRB, EB 976 73.9 SRB, EB

Yeoman 6,891 76.8 SRB, EB 6,803 77.5 SRB, EB 6,829 75.0 SRB, EB

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 61 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

116 107.8 115 95.7 110 96.4

10,964 94.8 SRB, EB 11,051 91.5 SRB, EB 11,077 91.0 SRB, EB

2,257 102.3 SRB, EB 2,373 88.0 SRB, EB 2,368 86.3 SRB, EB

2,719 105.2 SRB, EB 2,722 96.1 SRB, EB 2,619 97.6 SRB, EB

623 110.6 EB 654 94.8 EB 677 90.4 EB

249 97.6 EB 250 96.8 EB 262 94.7 EB

17,306 105.4 SRB, EB 18,797 93.3 SRB, EB 18,516 96.3 SRB, EB

939 96.6 SRB, EB 954 90.7 SRB, EB 980 89.9 SRB, EB

755 93.1 EB 772 92.6 EB 771 97.3 EB

1,450 96.8 1,505 94.0 1,489 94.4

4,484 0.0 5,175 0.0 5,079 0.0

3,485 97.5 EB 3,540 93.1 EB 3,426 102.7 EB

838 93.3 EB 874 89.6 EB 890 98.4 EB

1,666 89.9 SRB 1,718 89.3 SRB 1,751 86.2 SRB

6,023 103.2 SRB, EB 6,063 94.0 SRB, EB 5,836 96.5 SRB, EB

473 52.0 SRB 502 112.7 SRB 701 82.0 SRB

9,954 97.8 SRB, EB 9,927 100.6 SRB, EB 9,901 99.8 SRB, EB

17 117.6 18 88.9 18 94.4

975 105.4 SRB, EB 1,025 96.7 SRB, EB 1,028 97.5 SRB, EB

6,560 94.2 SRB, EB 6,313 96.7 SRB, EB 6,165 97.4 SRB, EB

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 62 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 18: Marine Corps’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Aircraft Maintenance 

Chief 112 100.9 241 101.2 243 99.6

Administrative Clerk 3,022 117.5 EB 3,078 107.5 EB 3,032 102.7 EB

Air Control 

Electronics Operator 130 110.8 SRB, EB 130 125.4 SRB, EB 136 131.6 SRB, EB

Air Traffic Control 

Communications 

Technician 185 105.4 SRB, EB 176 112.5 SRB 166 116.3 SRB, EB

Air Traffic Control 

Navigational Aids 

Technician 123 117.9 SRB, EB 120 116.7 SRB 103 128.2 SRB, EB

Aircraft 

Communications/ 

Navigation Systems 

Technician, KC-130 83 112.0 SRB 76 130.3 SRB 81 112.3 SRB, EB

Aircraft 

Communications/ 

Navigation/ Electrical 

Systems Technician, 

CH-46 317 109.5 SRB,EB 312 117.3 SRB, EB 300 115.3 SRB, EB

Aircraft 

Communications/ 

Navigation/ 

Electrical/ Weapon 

Systems Technician, 

U/AH-1 490 105.3 SRB, EB 485 108.9 SRB, EB 484 102.7 SRB, EB

Aircraft 

Communications/ 

Navigation/ Radar 

Systems Technician, 

EA-6B 57 124.6 SRB 63 119.0 SRB 60 113.3 SRB, EB

Aircraft Electrical/ 

Instrument/ Flight 

Control Systems 

Technician, Fixed 

Wing 157 131.2 SRB, EB 159 128.9 SRB, EB 156 116.0 SRB, EB

Aircraft Electrical/ 

Instrument/ Flight 

Control Systems 

Technician, 

Helicopter 175 136.6 SRB 169 118.3 SRB, EB 160 111.3 SRB, EB

Aircraft Forward 

Looking Infrared/ 

Electro-optical 

Technician 75 92.0 SRB 80 103.8 SRB, EB 74 104.1 SRB, EB

Aircraft Navigation 

Systems Technician, 

IFF/ RADAR/ TACAN 267 101.5 SRB, EB 278 101.1 SRB, EB 267 118.0 SRB, EB
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 63 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa

247 102.8 246 100.8 270 101.5

2963 102.0 EB 2978 103.8 EB 3155 101.6 EB

132 136.4 SRB, EB 137 133.6 SRB, EB 135 129.6 SRB, EB

169 105.9 SRB, EB 179 96.1 SRB, EB 167 101.2 SRB, EB

98 117.3 EB 111 91.0 SRB, EB 101 106.9 EB

84 109.5 SRB, EB 85 101.2 SRB, EB 100 84.0 SRB, EB

293 118.1 SRB, EB 350 98.6 SRB, EB 308 103.2 SRB, EB

463 111.4 SRB, EB 535 96.3 SRB, EB 504 100.2 SRB, EB

54 125.9 SRB, EB 57 105.3 SRB, EB 58 103.4 SRB, EB

162 114.2 SRB, EB 175 99.4 SRB, EB 150 106.0 EB

160 101.3 SRB, EB 179 95.5 SRB, EB 160 109.4 EB

75 110.7 SRB, EB 83 107.2 SRB, EB 70 111.4 SRB, EB

270 111.5 SRB, EB 303 92.1 SRB, EB 269 101.9 SRB, EB
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 64 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Aircraft Ordnance 

Technician 1,217 104.2 SRB, EB 1,213 102.8 SRB, EB 1,276 102.2 SRB, EB

Aircraft Rescue and 

Firefighting 

Specialist 1,036 107.1 SRB, EB 1,039 100.6 SRB, EB 1,004 105.2 SRB, EB

Antitank Missileman 866 123.2 SRB, EB 845 108.6 SRB, EB 824 101.9 SRB, EB

Artillery 

Meteorological Man 51 105.9 SRB, EB 51 103.9 EB 58 100.0 SRB, EB

Aviation Ordnance 

Systems Technician 907 111.6 SRB, EB 955 106.6 SRB, EB 984 104.3 SRB, EB

Aviation Radar 

Repairer 85 149.4 SRB, EB 83 125.3 SRB 75 169.3 SRB, EB

Combat

Lithographer 0 0.0 88 108.0 87 114.9 SRB

Combat

Photographer 164 109.8 SRB, EB 160 119.4 EB 167 106.0

Combat

Videographer 94 137.2 EB 104 108.7 EB 108 100.9 EB

Correctional

Specialist 628 108.8 SRB, EB 641 110.8 SRB, EB 600 115.0 SRB, EB

Digital Multi-channel 

Wideband 

Transmission 

Equipment Operator 619 102.6 SRB 625 98.2 SRB, EB 624 109.1 SRB, EB

Electrician 563 100.7 SRB, EB 565 102.3 EB 581 99.1 SRB, EB

Electro-Optical 

Ordnance Repairer 399 108.3 SRB, EB 397 115.1 SRB, EB 382 119.1 SRB, EB

Engineer Assistant 118 122.0 114 121.9 130 113.1

Engineer Equipment 

Mechanic 1,106 96.7 EB 1,109 103.6 EB 1,148 106.5 EB

Field Artillery 

Cannoneer 2,047 98.7 SRB, EB 2,039 102.0 SRB, EB 2,029 104.0 SRB, EB

Field Artillery Fire 

Control Man 589 94.7 SRB, EB 529 115.9 SRB, EB 575 116.2 SRB, EB

Field Artillery Radar 

Operator 96 95.8 SRB, EB 93 108.6 SRB, EB 96 108.3 SRB, EB

Fixed-Wing Aircraft 

Power Plants 

Mechanic, T-56 0 0.0 79 125.3 SRB 91 104.4 SRB

Fleet Satellite 

Communications 

Terminal Operator 26 111.5 30 106.7 SRB 32 106.3 SRB

Geographic 

Intelligence 

Specialist 133 117.3 SRB, EB 133 112.8 SRB, EB 124 130.6 SRB, EB

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 65 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

1,266 107.6 SRB, EB 1,308 107.4 SRB, EB 1,306 109.5 SRB, EB

962 109.8 EB 987 112.5 EB 962 110.2 EB

846 107.6 SRB, EB 889 101.6 SRB, EB 852 113.5 SRB

50 124.0 SRB, EB 52 107.7 SRB, EB 49 122.4 EB

947 110.0 SRB, EB 958 105.5 SRB, EB 933 103.8 SRB, EB

78 153.8 SRB, EB 92 140.2 SRB, EB 87 155.2 EB

84 113.1 SRB, EB 75 110.7 60 130.0

160 111.3 EB 161 107.5 129 119.4 EB

96 111.5 EB 94 106.4 SRB, EB 109 93.6 SRB, EB

590 106.1 EB 566 106.9 EB 581 107.2 SRB, EB

619 118.3 SRB, EB 621 111.6 EB 620 100.2 EB

570 102.1 EB 559 112.2 EB 493 127.6 EB

381 115.5 SRB, EB 401 106.2 SRB, EB 383 108.4 SRB, EB

121 119.0 SRB, EB 116 108.6 EB 109 110.1

1,139 112.8 EB 1,124 116.9 EB 1,122 123.4 EB

2,118 101.4 SRB, EB 2,040 108.2 SRB, EB 2,058 112.1 SRB, EB

565 124.2 SRB, EB 572 119.9 SRB, EB 559 124.5 SRB, EB

93 114.0 SRB, EB 93 107.5 SRB, EB 94 107.4 EB

87 111.5 EB 82 106.1 SRB 74 109.5 EB

32 115.6 SRB 27 118.5 27 3.7

121 124.8 SRB, EB 132 112.1 SRB, EB 130 119.2 SRB, EB

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 66 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

a

“SRB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received a selected reenlistment 

bonus. “EB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received an enlistment bonus.

Helicopter Airframe 

Mechanic, CH-46 354 109.9 SRB 342 108.8 SRB, EB 316 120.3 SRB

Helicopter Crew 

Chief, CH-53 360 103.9 SRB, EB 354 117.2 SRB, EB 358 105.9 SRB, EB

Helicopter Mechanic, 

UH/AH-1 626 107.0 SRB 595 114.3 SRB, EB 639 104.4 SRB, EB

Helicopter Mechanic, 

CH-53 560 103.2 SRB 562 101.4 SRB, EB 556 110.4 SRB, EB

Helicopter/ Tiltrotor 

Dynamic

Components 

Mechanic 187 108.6 SRB 185 111.4 SRB 191 107.9 SRB, EB

Hygiene Equipment 

Operator 736 103.7 SRB, EB 714 107.3 EB 743 101.6 EB

Infantry Unit Leader 2,479 101.2 2,462 102.0 2,452 89.6

Legal Services 

Specialist 429 110.3 EB 427 111.5 438 110.0 SRB

Machinist 139 101.4 SRB 133 105.3 SRB 150 94.0 SRB, EB

Metal Worker 254 108.7 260 100.8 EB 275 99.6 SRB, EB

Meteorology/ 

Oceanographic 

Observer 162 114.2 SRB, EB 167 114.4 SRB, EB 146 146.6 SRB, EB

Military Police 2,830 103.3 EB 2,875 105.2 EB 2,809 106.7 SRB, EB

Packaging Specialist 186 117.2 SRB 188 114.9 202 112.4

Personnel Clerk 2,722 109.4 EB 2,697 111.2 EB 2,720 104.9 EB

Sergeant Major/First 

Sergeant 1,087 111.2 1,091 109.0 1,091 108.1

Traffic Management 

Specialist 550 107.3 EB 561 110.2 555 107.7 EB

Warehouse Clerk 2,546 104.0 EB 2,556 104.5 EB 2,579 104.8 EB

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 67 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

374 100.5 SRB, EB 429 87.6 SRB, EB 379 102.6 SRB

358 105.0 SRB 361 98.3 SRB, EB 343 104.1 SRB, EB

641 110.3 SRB, EB 646 103.6 SRB, EB 633 99.7 SRB

561 104.3 SRB, EB 549 103.8 SRB, EB 553 100.9 SRB, EB

187 112.3 SRB, EB 189 100.5 EB 182 101.1

726 105.9 EB 713 108.8 EB 632 126.3 EB

2,233 101.7 SRB 2,249 105.6 SRB 657 347.3

438 105.7 EB 435 106.9 EB 434 109.0 EB

137 110.2 SRB, EB 135 111.1 SRB, EB 137 117.5 SRB, EB

259 113.5 EB 256 122.3 EB 258 127.1 EB

153 139.2 SRB, EB 159 134.0 SRB, EB 166 121.7 SRB, EB

2,981 97.3 SRB, EB 2,865 100.3 SRB, EB 2,878 100.2 SRB, EB

196 106.6 189 113.8 EB 191 113.6

2,671 101.7 EB 2,649 100.2 EB 2,571 103.8 EB

1,127 102.1 1,173 96.8 1,185 104.1

541 106.1 EB 520 113.3 EB 521 114.6 EB

2,515 110.4 EB 2,480 113.1 EB 2,444 116.9 EB

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 68 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 19: Marine Corps’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational specialty 

title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Counterintelligence/ 

Human Intelligence 

Specialist 255 56.5 SRB 243 64.2 SRB, EB 238 83.2 SRB

Landing Support Specialist 816 92.6 SRB, EB 819 93.3 SRB, EB 830 93.7 SRB, EB

Combat Service Support 

Chief 370 87.3 SRB 369 92.1 SRB 374 91.2 SRB

Radio Chief 887 90.8 SRB 887 85.2 SRB, EB 859 94.9

Field Artillery Operations 

Man 216 82.9 SRB 212 85.4 SRB 217 77.9

Fabric Repair Specialist 104 88.5 SRB 100 87.0 112 79.5 SRB

Basic Engineer, 

Construction, Facilities, 

and Equipment Marine 594 18.9 573 39.8 554 41.5

M1A1 Tank Crewman 577 91.5 SRB 576 89.9 SRB 554 99.6 SRB

Basic Ground Ordnance 

Maintenance Marine 330 53.9 325 57.2 EB 316 51.9

Assault Amphibious 

Vehicle Repairer/ 

Technician 659 90.4 SRB, EB 668 85.3 SRB, EB 680 88.7 SRB, EB

Explosive Ordnance 

Disposal Technician 342 77.2 SRB 351 75.8 SRB, EB 342 81.0 SRB

Special Intelligence 

System Administrator 

/Communicator 340 95.6 SRB 343 88.6 SRB 339 90.9 SRB, EB

Asia-Pacific Cryptologic 

Linguist 81 90.1 EB 86 60.5 SRB 88 58.0 SRB, EB

Satellite Communications 

Technician 106 65.1 SRB 105 70.5 SRB, EB 99 75.8 SRB

Basic Food Service Marine 248 18.1 248 18.5 180 41.7

Non-Appropriated Funds 

Audit Technician 66 63.6 SRB 62 77.4 EB 52 84.6 SRB

Combat Correspondent 405 86.7 SRB, EB 433 76.9 SRB, EB 414 82.6 SRB, EB

Basic Visual Information 

Support Marine 45 44.4 41 34.1 40 17.5

Basic Nuclear, Biological, 

and Chemical Defense 

Marine 56 19.6 55 30.9 55 96.4

Basic Military Police and 

Corrections Marine 262 6.9 263 30.8 259 39.0

Aviation Radar Technician 78 69.2 SRB 76 67.1 81 61.7 SRB

Air Traffic Control Systems 

Maintenance Chief 25 84.0 23 87.0 22 86.4
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 69 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

444 73.4 SRB 444 77.3 SRB 442 83.9 SRB

818 92.5 SRB, EB 825 91.8 SRB, EB 825 91.4 EB

373 90.3 SRB 372 93.0 SRB 339 96.8 SRB

1,054 80.3 927 95.5 SRB 942 89.9 SRB

210 83.8 SRB 209 86.6 SRB 215 91.2 SRB

102 91.2 99 56.6 99 36.4

624 33.5 525 59.2 593 61.6

556 98.6 SRB, EB 578 90.3 SRB, EB 563 95.6 SRB

431 32.9 357 58.3 431 66.1

661 96.2 SRB, EB 664 95.8 SRB, EB 672 93.9 SRB, EB

356 79.8 SRB 394 74.9 SRB 361 80.6 SRB

365 97.3 SRB, EB 391 92.6 SRB, EB 434 95.6 SRB, EB

112 51.8 SRB, EB 133 60.2 SRB, EB 118 78.0 SRB, EB

99 74.7 SRB 112 72.3 SRB 118 68.6 SRB

224 27.7 207 16.9 241 34.0

53 79.2 SRB 48 93.8 SRB 50 82.0

417 89.7 SRB, EB 432 93.1 SRB, EB 419 98.1 SRB, EB

55 38.2 32 78.1 39 94.9

112 50.9 92 57.6 120 59.2

291 36.8 211 65.4 225 98.7

74 70.3 SRB 73 72.6 SRB 73 75.3 SRB

21 85.7 22 95.5 25 88.0
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 70 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Tactical Data Systems 

Administrator 62 59.7 SRB 66 54.5 SRB, EB 67 59.7 SRB

Individual Material 

Readiness List Asset 

Manager 296 99.3 SRB, EB 303 99.0 SRB, EB 378 79.6 SRB, EB

Helicopter Crew Chief,

UH-1 192 93.2 SRB 194 88.1 SRB 202 79.2 SRB, EB

Advanced Aircraft 

Communication/Navigation 

Systems Technician 214 85.5 SRB 218 75.2 SRB 206 83.5 SRB

Advanced Aircraft 

Electrical/Instrument/Flight 

Control Systems 

Technician 107 78.5 SRB 101 89.1 SRB 103 99.0 SRB

Advanced Automatic Test 

Equipment Technician 114 85.1 SRB 119 72.3 SRB 116 88.8 SRB

Meteorology/ 

Oceanographic Forecaster 142 73.9 SRB 138 79.0 SRB, EB 144 78.5 SRB

Tactical Air Defense 

Controller 141 69.5 SRB 151 61.6 SRB, EB 148 64.2 SRB

Air Traffic Controller 643 84.1 SRB, EB 633 85.6 SRB, EB 650 93.5 SRB, EB

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle 

Operator 82 72.0 SRB, EB 86 77.9 SRB, EB 93 74.2 SRB, EB

Airborne Radio Operator/ 

Inflight Refueling 

Observer/ Loadmaster 121 76.9 SRB 120 76.7 SRB, EB 117 80.3 SRB, EB

Career Recruiter 554 72.0 SRB 554 78.3 SRB 540 78.1

Personnel/

Administrative Chief 1,774 97.6 1,773 98.3 1,724 98.5 EB

Imagery Analysis 

Specialist 308 81.8 SRB 307 86.6 SRB, EB 279 102.2 SRB

Reconnaissance Man 517 71.6 SRB, EB 485 97.7 SRB, EB 612 130.2 SRB

Wire Chief 298 84.9 SRB 296 85.8 SRB 286 97.6

Fire Support Man 339 113.0 SRB, EB 374 96.8 SRB, EB 386 89.1 SRB, EB

Electrical Equipment 

Repair Specialist 689 97.1 SRB, EB 706 98.3 710 96.5 EB

Utilities Chief 180 92.8 179 86.0 173 90.2

Engineer Equipment Chief 208 80.3 SRB 213 74.6 209 74.6

Light Armored Vehicle 

Repairer/

Technician 404 93.3 EB 423 89.8 SRB 437 87.9 SRB, EB

Senior Ground Ordnance 

Weapons Chief 36 88.9 36 88.9 34 88.2

Criminal Investigator Agent 197 37.6 SRB 195 31.8 SRB 190 31.6 SRB

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty 

title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 71 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

68 69.1 SRB 65 80.0 SRB 65 86.2 SRB

300 94.3 SRB, EB 305 89.5 EB 303 92.4 EB

207 87.0 SRB, EB 238 76.1 SRB 218 97.7 SRB

195 80.0 185 84.9 SRB 173 93.6 SRB

106 94.3 103 90.3 SRB 104 85.6 SRB

112 94.6 SRB 112 92.9 116 88.8 SRB

135 88.1 SRB 128 90.6 SRB 129 90.7 SRB

135 74.1 SRB 134 67.2 SRB 143 60.1 SRB

647 94.9 SRB, EB 715 84.2 SRB, EB 664 90.7 SRB, EB

86 77.9 SRB, EB 84 79.8 SRB, EB 91 79.1 SRB, EB

114 81.6 SRB 130 76.2 SRB, EB 145 69.7 SRB, EB

541 76.5 SRB 541 81.5 SRB 541 82.1 SRB

1,694 99.3 1,759 94.7 1,586 104.9

293 99.3 SRB 295 89.5 SRB 289 90.7 SRB

874 91.1 SRB 926 88.1 SRB, EB 919 99.2 SRB, EB

304 101.6 318 92.8 SRB 320 91.6

381 89.2 SRB, EB 386 98.4 SRB, EB 510 81.8 SRB, EB

699 96.1 EB 690 98.7 EB 666 103.6 EB

171 92.4 165 102.4 158 94.3

204 98.5 SRB 204 101.0 SRB 183 91.3

426 92.7 SRB, EB 428 93.5 SRB, EB 411 102.7 SRB, EB

37 91.9 37 105.4 41 78.0 SRB

97 66.0 83 95.2 SRB 88 118.2 SRB

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 72 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

a

“SRB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received a selected reenlistment 

bonus. “EB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received an enlistment bonus.

Aircraft Electronic 

Countermeasures 

Systems Technician, 

Helicopter 104 101.0 SRB, EB 106 87.7 SRB 104 98.1 SRB, EB

Aircraft Electronic 

Countermeasures 

Systems RADCOM/ 

CATIIID Technician 87 94.3 EB 92 89.1 EB 112 98.2 SRB, EB

Aviation Supply Specialist 1,544 97.4 SRB, EB 1561 98.1 SRB, EB 1574 101.5 SRB, EB

Tactical Systems Operator/ 

Mission Specialist 95 80.0 SRB 97 73.2 SRB 80 81.3 SRB

Metrology Technician 59 88.1 SRB 55 87.3 EB 58 79.3 SRB

Legal Services Reporter 52 59.6 SRB 52 71.2 49 77.6 SRB

Electronics Maintenance 

Chief 10 90.0 11 63.6 11 90.9

Tiltrotor Mechanic, MV-22 0 0.0 100 50.0 123 35.0 SRB

Tiltrotor Crew Chief, MV-22 0 0.0 83 12.0 EB 112 7.1 SRB

Fixed-Wing Aircraft 

Airframe Mechanic, F/A-18 0 0.0 423 95.7 SRB, EB 437 92.0 SRB, EB

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Safety 

Equipment Mechanic, 

EA-6 0 0.0 43 93.0 50 90.0 SRB, EB

Hybrid Test Set Technician 0 0.0 70 98.6 EB 73 98.6 SRB, EB

Middle East Cryptologic 

Linguist 178 95.5 SRB 175 93.7 SRB 171 102.9 SRB, EB

Finance Technician 874 105.9 EB 885 96.8 SRB, EB 875 96.7 EB

Organizational Automotive 

Mechanic 3,298 89.3 SRB, EB 3,323 91.4 SRB, EB 3471 88.1 EB

Programmer, ADA 334 92.2 SRB 330 95.2 SRB 328 73.8 SRB

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty 

title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 73 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

128 95.3 SRB, EB 149 94.6 SRB, EB 155 94.2 SRB, EB

115 103.5 SRB, EB 128 90.6 SRB, EB 119 94.1 SRB, EB

1,556 99.0 EB 1,522 97.8 EB 1,568 93.2 EB

89 80.9 SRB 107 78.5 SRB, EB 65 132.3 SRB

60 83.3 SRB 56 100.0 SRB 60 90.0

47 78.7 SRB 49 77.6 38 100.0 SRB

10 100.0 10 90.0 11 90.9

119 65.5 SRB 110 78.2 SRB, EB 115 99.1 SRB

124 8.9 SRB 83 49.4 EB 100 49.0 SRB

421 99.5 SRB, EB 430 94.4 SRB, EB 469 89.8 SRB, EB

48 83.3 SRB 44 93.2 SRB 59 78.0

73 93.2 SRB, EB 78 89.7 SRB, EB 71 98.6 SRB, EB

187 92.0 SRB, EB 232 74.6 SRB, EB 220 76.4 SRB, EB

871 94.5 EB 858 95.8 EB 844 98.5 EB

3,397 92.8 EB 3,418 98.2 EB 3,278 105.7 EB

239 74.1 SRB, EB 154 54.5 1 4,800.0

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 74 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 20: Air Force’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

a

“SRB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received a selected reenlistment

bonus. “EB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received an enlistment bonus.

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Space System 

Operations 1,222 101.6 SRB, EB 1,207 102.5 SRB, EB 1,163 108.8 SRB

Cryptologic Linguist 2,388 112.3 SRB, EB 1,508 135.4 SRB, EB 1,532 118.7 SRB, EB

Ground Radar 

System 956 110.4 SRB, EB 903 109.9 SRB 898 111.6 SRB, EB

Electromagnetic 

Spectrum 

Management 896 118.5 SRB 690 155.9 SRB 659 153.3

Enlisted Aide 81 112.3 78 117.9 80 108.8

Communication 

Signals Intelligence 1,532 110.0 SRB, EB 1,526 104.6 SRB, EB 1,446 112.2 SRB, EB

Aircrew Life Support 1,754 103.5 SRB, EB 1,792 100.6 SRB 1,803 101.1 SRB

Operations 

Management 426 95.8 SRB, EB 417 128.3 SRB, EB 405 148.6 SRB, EB

Correction Custody 

Supervisor 9 100.0 5 180.0 5 120.0

Senior Enlisted 

Advisor 126 100.8 125 100.0 127 106.3
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 75 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

1,050 124.8 SRB 1,018 116.0 1,013 101.1

1,513 111.6 SRB, EB 1,453 131.9 SRB, EB 1,760 111.4 SRB

866 123.1 SRB, EB 800 131.5 816 115.6

678 131.9 644 120.0 656 104.0

78 109.0 79 111.4 79 108.9

1,458 104.3 SRB, EB 1,469 103.8 1,475 96.0 EB

1,792 103.9 SRB 1,752 102.7 1,679 97.4 SRB, EB

399 172.9 SRB 392 171.2 378 148.4

6 133.3 7 114.3 4 125.0

129 100.8 133 103.0 131 103.1
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 76 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 21: Air Force’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Aerospace

Physiology 303 98.7 SRB 319 95.0 SRB 342 88.6 SRB

Air Transportation 24,844 94.7 SRB, EB 24,014 93.7 SRB, EB 23,836 94.8 SRB, EB

Airborne 

Communication and 

Electronic Systems 705 89.6 SRB, EB 923 85.3 SRB, EB 959 83.9 SRB, EB

Airborne Cryptologic 

Linguist 0 0.0 855 71.3 887 70.6 SRB, EB

Airborne Missions 

Systems 321 103.4 SRB, EB 344 94.5 SRB, EB 344 91.9 SRB, EB

Airborne Battle 

Management 823 84.4 SRB, EB 883 76.7 SRB, EB 880 81.7 SRB, EB

Aircraft Fabrication 4,776 89.1 SRB, EB 4,953 82.7 SRB 5,511 75.9 SRB, EB

Aircraft Loadmaster 1,879 93.1 SRB, EB 1,927 86.5 SRB 1,928 86.0 SRB, EB

Airfield Management 744 86.3 SRB 819 82.1 SRB 827 87.8 SRB

Awaiting Retraining 

– Reasons Within 

Control 1 0.0 1 0.0

Bioenvironmental 

Engineering 957 85.4 SRB, EB 951 85.6 SRB 953 88.2 SRB

Biomedical 

Equipment 502 84.5 SRB, EB 502 79.1 SRB, EB 506 84.4 SRB

Cardiopulmonary 

Laboratory 283 101.4 SRB, EB 272 88.2 SRB 272 79.8 SRB

Combat Control 437 75.7 SRB, EB 431 76.1 SRB, EB 426 74.9 SRB, EB

Communication – 

Computer Systems 

Planning and 

Implementation 626 96.3 SRB, EB 638 90.3 SRB 647 86.4 SRB

Computer Network, 

Switching, and 

Crypto Systems 3,071 93.2 SRB, EB 3,011 80.6 SRB, EB 3,005 79.0 SRB, EB

Contracting 1,377 91.5 SRB, EB 1,407 85.2 SRB 1,398 89.6 SRB

Courier 90 102.2 93 94.6 93 92.5

Dental 2,584 94.8 SRB, EB 2,579 91.2 SRB 2,595 89.7 SRB

Diet Therapy 409 96.6 SRB 381 89.8 SRB 394 87.1 SRB

Dormitory Manager 380 92.4 351 94.0 346 100.0

Education and 

Training 1,640 97.1 1,543 92.4 1,485 89.3

Electronic Signals 

Intelligence 

Exploitation 748 93.6 SRB, EB 755 81.7 SRB, EB 743 81.2 SRB, EB
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 77 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa

361 91.1 360 90.6 356 93.0

23,079 99.4 SRB, EB 22,101 102.3 SRB 22,081 96.3

919 93.5 SRB, EB 935 94.2 SRB 940 93.8 SRB

928 60.0 SRB, EB 940 53.1 SRB, EB 1110 48.5 SRB, EB

345 89.6 SRB, EB 348 89.4 SRB 346 98.0 SRB

826 92.9 SRB, EB 838 97.4 SRB 832 99.8 SRB

5,420 86.3 SRB, EB 5,398 96.2 SRB, EB 5,325 97.1

1,988 90.2 SRB, EB 1,987 97.5 SRB 2,104 93.6 SRB

828 96.9 SRB 806 106.0 789 99.0

1 0.0 1 0.0 1 0.0

968 90.1 SRB 977 89.0 962 85.8

526 87.5 523 98.1 514 102.3

267 79.8 267 88.4 264 92.8

427 69.6 SRB, EB 433 83.1 SRB, EB 473 76.7 SRB, EB

654 91.9 SRB 643 98.1 642 94.7

2,924 81.8 SRB, EB 2,759 91.2 SRB 2,775 90.2

1,422 87.1 SRB 1,406 89.7 1,349 94.5

93 89.2 88 98.9 92 97.8

2,497 97.0 SRB 2,498 102.0 2,457 99.3

401 85.0 SRB 399 96.0 391 101.0

329 98.5 318 87.1 316 90.5

1,455 82.8 1,412 84.3 1,359 87.2

747 79.7 SRB, EB 727 92.6 SRB 779 100.5
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 78 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Engineering 1,030 92.2 SRB, EB 1,019 83.3 SRB 994 87.3 SRB

Enlisted Accessions 

Recruiter 2,543 91.4 2,826 87.8 2,830 92.3

Explosive Ordnance 

Disposal 913 97.5 SRB, EB 952 98.7 SRB, EB 978 96.6 SRB, EB

First Sergeant 1,297 93.8 1,279 90.1 1,284 92.9

Flight Attendant 193 96.9 SRB 209 83.3 SRB 217 83.4 SRB, EB

Flight Engineer 1,876 101.0 1,834 92.3 SRB 1,712 97.1 SRB

Health Services 

Management 3,219 94.8 SRB, EB 3,170 87.6 SRB 3,104 92.3 SRB

Historian 114 92.1 112 90.2 115 90.4

Imagery Analysis 1,018 107.7 SRB, EB 1,044 97.2 SRB, EB 1,070 89.1 SRB, EB

Information 

Management 10,731 100.7 SRB 10,543 97.6 SRB 10,431 95.2 SRB

Intelligence 

Applications 2,294 92.5 SRB, EB 2,322 87.9 SRB, EB 2,450 85.3 SRB, EB

Interpreter/

Translator 64 96.9 64 81.3 56 67.9

Linguist Debriefer 68 77.9 69 78.3 66 77.3

Logistics Plans 757 100.4 771 87.9 775 87.0 SRB

Manpower 763 99.6 SRB 762 89.1 SRB 740 85.9 SRB

Medical Materiel 1,153 95.7 EB 1,071 95.6 1,092 89.2

Mental Health 

Service 665 97.7 SRB 661 91.8 SRB 669 86.5 SRB

Military Training 

Leader 369 101.6 385 92.5 420 89.0

Munitions Systems 6,696 86.9 SRB, EB 6,709 85.2 SRB, EB 7,154 81.8 SRB, EB

Network Intelligence 

Analysis 1,408 88.7 SRB, EB 1,452 75.6 SRB, EB 1,481 74.9 SRB, EB

Operation Resource 

Management 1,829 97.0 SRB, EB 1,820 94.3 SRB 1,828 96.9 SRB

Optometry 245 98.0 SRB, EB 275 81.8 SRB 274 86.5 SRB

Paralegal 1,053 91.8 SRB 1,070 86.1 SRB 1,089 84.9 SRB

Pararescue 313 86.9 SRB, EB 325 87.1 SRB, EB 329 81.5 SRB, EB

Personnel 8,060 92.9 SRB, EB 7,989 92.0 SRB 7,849 92.1 SRB

Pharmacy 1,002 91.7 SRB, EB 1,018 90.4 SRB 1,032 89.0 SRB

Postal Specialist 628 99.2 657 97.3 687 91.7

Professional Military 

Education Instructor 579 98.1 601 94.0 649 91.5

Public Health 657 94.7 SRB, EB 651 92.0 SRB 745 82.0 SRB

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 79 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

972 94.5 SRB 963 98.7 942 98.1

2,828 93.4 2,777 94.5 2,747 93.4

989 99.2 SRB, EB 1,013 106.0 SRB, EB 1,091 98.2

1,260 90.2 1,255 93.9 1,236 98.5

207 86.5 SRB 211 91.5 198 106.6

1,682 93.9 SRB 1,655 96.6 SRB 1,632 96.0 SRB

3,219 96.1 SRB 3,171 99.9 3,186 93.9

115 89.6 105 97.1 31 248.4

1,094 88.3 SRB, EB 1,151 93.0 SRB 1,224 95.5

10,280 96.5 SRB 9,886 95.9 9,578 90.1

2,420 88.4 SRB, EB 2,524 90.8 SRB 2,509 93.0 SRB

58 55.2 86 37.2 56 101.8

54 88.9 53 81.1 53 73.6

783 86.3 SRB 774 89.9 SRB 777 90.9

709 86.0 666 89.9 678 85.3

1,068 92.4 SRB 1,060 93.9 1,051 94.4

669 87.4 SRB 662 98.9 658 97.7

420 97.4 340 97.4 407 81.6

7,184 91.3 SRB, EB 7,147 99.4 EB 7,084 97.3

1,504 77.6 SRB, EB 1,520 89.8 SRB 1,579 93.3 SRB

1,826 93.8 SRB 1,785 96.7 1,698 93.9

293 84.6 SRB 299 93.3 294 99.0

1,097 85.1 SRB 1,081 87.8 SRB 1,041 89.9

339 71.4 SRB, EB 361 67.3 SRB, EB 362 66.9

7,719 90.3 7,346 89.9 6,859 88.2

1,025 92.9 SRB 1,030 96.4 1,019 96.2

632 99.2 621 95.0 616 92.9

656 95.0 649 99.5 642 102.0

1,060 90.8 SRB 1,057 87.9 1,043 85.5

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 80 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

a

“SRB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received a selected reenlistment 

bonus. “EB” means at least one person in the occupational specialty received an enlistment bonus.

Safety 388 104.9 SRB 395 95.9 409 86.8

Services 4,549 94.4 SRB, EB 4,532 97.9 SRB 4,504 99.1 SRB

Special 

Investigations 766 94.3 SRB 768 92.4 SRB 777 97.6 SRB

Survival, Evasion, 

Resistance, and 

Escape 350 90.6 SRB, EB 381 81.4 SRB, EB 383 73.6 SRB, EB

Tactical Air 

Command and 

Control 1,027 89.6 SRB 1,017 88.7 SRB, EB 1,053 89.7 SRB

Weather 2,415 91.2 EB 2,472 83.1 EB 2,465 86.3 EB

Public Affairs 711 94.0 SRB, EB 714 87.7 SRB 722 85.0 SRB

Regional Band 580 94.1 EB 597 91.3 597 94.0

Visual Information 

Services 1,420 96.0 SRB, EB 1,390 89.6 SRB 1,405 86.5 SRB

Aerospace Medical 

Service 5,934 95.7 SRB, EB 5,772 92.3 SRB 5,850 94.4 SRB

Medical Laboratory 1,355 91.2 SRB, EB 1,302 86.0 SRB 1,306 86.1 SRB

Tactical Aircraft 

Avionics Systems 13,203 94.6 SRB, EB 12,936 91.3 SRB, EB 14,260 86.8 SRB, EB

Telephone and 

Distributed 

Communication 

Systems 2,383 82.3 SRB, EB 2,039 87.6 SRB, EB 1,967 88.4 SRB, EB

Security Forces 20,710 99.6 SRB, EB 20,732 98.8 SRB, EB 21,388 98.6 SRB, EB

Physical Medicine 581 105.7 SRB 609 94.3 SRB 600 93.5 SRB

Manpower 23 87.0 22 77.3 22 72.7

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational 

specialty title

2000 2001 2002

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 81 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

404 89.4 393 91.3 394 90.1 SRB, EB

4,494 96.5 4,403 93.8 4,651 83.1

778 99.4 SRB 952 84.5 1,082 80.4

390 84.4 SRB, EB 405 100.7 SRB, EB 427 80.8

1,048 94.4 SRB 1,080 95.5 SRB, EB 1,062 98.0 SRB, EB

2,397 95.4 EB 2,364 99.3 2,265 100.6

716 89.1 SRB 708 91.2 SRB 684 89.5

599 97.2 599 96.8 599 90.8

1,407 87.9 SRB 1,374 92.4 1,354 92.6

6,354 98.1 SRB 6,349 100.0 6,265 98.3

1,250 90.8 SRB 1,261 93.8 1,237 98.2

14,464 93.5 SRB, EB 14,356 100.5 SRB 14,205 97.2

1,933 93.2 SRB, EB 1,827 104.1 SRB 1,872 99.7

21,769 99.5 SRB, EB 22,541 103.1 SRB 23,586 95.5

619 91.4 SRB 625 93.4 613 94.9

21 85.7 20 80.0

2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorized

level

Percentage

filled Bonusa Authorizedlevel

Percentage

filled Bonusa
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 82 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 22: Army National Guard’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Aviation Operations Specialist 1,348 109.9 1,307 112.6

Avionic Mechanic 509 113.2 521 114.8

Career Counselor 16 237.5 16 206.3

Chaplain Assistant 719 112.7 703 127.2

Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent 35 105.7 30 143.3

Civil Affairs Specialist 2 34,700.0 2 10,450.0

Dental Specialist 305 130.2 287 139.7

Financial Management Technician 1,450 115.5 1,444 115.7

Firefighter 274 136.5 291 123.4

Human Resources Specialist 14,193 123.9 14,185 127.6

Information Technology Specialist 1,600 112.4 1,667 115.5

Interior Electrician 523 121.8 533 124.4

Medical Laboratory Specialist 80 132.5 76 132.9

Medical Logistics Specialist 235 159.1 222 162.6

Multimedia Illustrator 106 112.3 113 117.7

Operating Room Specialist 36 188.9 34 202.9

Paralegal Specialist 1,078 101.4 1,011 107.3

Patient Administration Specialist 298 157.0 281 163.0

Pharmacy Specialist 32 115.6 32 140.6

Radiology Specialist 79 212.7 78 184.6

Recruiter 28 367.9 28 300.0

Recruiting and Retention Non-Commissioned Officer 3,354 109.8 3,509 106.4

Shower/ Laundry and Clothing Repair Specialist 137 143.1 135 144.4

Special Forces Medical Sergeant 317 125.6 333 112.0

Special Forces Weapons Sergeant 322 134.2 332 130.1

UH-1 Helicopter Repairer 1,176 113.0 1,098 107.4

Unit Supply Specialist 10,919 108.7 10,967 111.6
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 83 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

1,319 109.6 1,415 103.5 1,587 101.9 1,589 100.5

515 117.1 492 119.1 543 109.4 543 109.8

16 131.3 15 126.7 10 90.0 7 142.9

737 113.6 758 111.1 755 120.8 760 112.1

32 131.3 25 172.0 41 95.1 41 139.0

3 3,066.7 4 4,000.0 2 1,700.0 0 0.0

275 145.8 273 151.3 288 149.0 280 152.1

1,524 112.4 1,487 116.4 1,545 106.1 1,643 96.2

334 110.2 390 104.9 369 140.9 372 124.2

13,956 129.8 13,762 133.9 14,539 122.0 14,572 121.0

1,758 113.3 1,806 111.5 1,851 105.3 1,821 102.8

539 117.4 552 112.9 603 106.5 599 100.5

82 139.0 101 119.8 106 131.1 95 140.0

231 141.6 245 139.6 260 129.2 248 123.8

104 136.5 112 113.4 110 110.0 113 110.6

34 197.1 14 285.7 3 300.0 1 200.0

1,071 106.2 1,102 103.0 1,102 102.9 1,088 98.4

284 164.8 278 168.3 291 161.2 280 168.6

32 162.5 31 164.5 31 135.5 30 140.0

83 213.3 102 189.2 128 193.8 130 210.0

31 200.0 26 165.4 18 211.1 13 261.5

3,464 107.3 3,217 116.2 3,470 111.0 3,709 120.9

22 813.6 0 0.0 125 168.8 127 162.2

316 120.6 336 112.2 324 116.7 322 105.6

334 133.5 361 126.0 369 107.3 374 117.9

1,063 102.5 272 114.7 151 128.5 155 101.9

10,992 110.8 10,993 108.4 11,015 104.9 10,930 104.7
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 84 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 23: Army National Guard’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

AH-64 Attack Helicopter Repairer 691 88.7 657 91.6

AH-64A Armament/ Electrical/ Avionics System Repairer 469 65.2 454 67.2

Air Defense Artillery Senior Sergeant 173 89.6 167 91.0

Air Defense Command, Control, Communications, Computers, 

and Intelligence Tactical Operations Center Enhanced 

Operator/Maintainer 248 47.2 380 41.1

Air Traffic Control Equipment Repairer 75 78.7 79 74.7

Air Traffic Control Operator 536 67.5 545 58.9

Aircraft Components Repair Supervisor 201 95.5 197 99.0

Aircraft Electrician 537 86.4 542 91.3

Aircraft Pneudraulics Repairer 382 56.8 375 62.4

Aircraft Powerplant Repairer 676 80.6 666 86.3

Aircraft Powertrain Repairer 430 75.1 432 70.1

Aircraft Structural Repairer 608 69.4 597 79.4

Ammunition Specialist 1,143 75.0 1,144 76.1

Apache Attack Helicopter Systems Repairer 50 62.0 41 53.7

Armament Repairer 1,265 59.8 1,130 62.2

Armor Senior Sergeant 425 98.1 431 94.7

Artillery Mechanic 1,539 84.0 1,528 74.3

Automotive Electrical Systems Repairer 672 71.6 647 71.3

Avenger Crewmember 1,515 77.8 1,670 74.8

Avenger System Repairer 223 65.0 222 70.7

Avionic Communications Equipment Repairer 185 89.4 183 92.3

Avionic System Repairer 349 79.9 314 85.7

Bradley Fighting Vehicle System Maintainer 3,163 80.3 3,141 71.2

Bradley Linebacker Crewmember 433 49.2 440 56.8

Bridge Crewmember 1,478 79.1 1,396 88.0

Cable Systems Installer-Maintainer 1,794 98.0 1,757 96.1

Cannon Crewmember 17,805 85.0 17,504 83.8

Cannon Fire Direction Specialist 3,325 91.0 3,215 88.4

Cargo Specialist 46 63.0 48 62.5

Carpentry and Masonry Specialist 2,942 91.5 3,022 91.3

Cavalry Scout 5,574 83.2 5,712 82.4

CH-47 Helicopter Repairer 1,120 79.3 1,074 84.7
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 85 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

662 101.1 1,069 93.7 1,404 84.4 1,415 81.0

442 74.7 578 77.3 719 70.9 730 69.3

160 97.5 161 93.2 166 86.1 153 85.6

408 91.7 474 81.6 590 77.1 646 66.4

78 82.1 73 72.6 66 74.2 72 75.0

541 67.1 514 72.6 522 70.1 544 67.8

198 98.5 184 100.5 196 95.9 203 91.1

533 91.2 450 100.9 453 90.3 444 91.7

362 61.3 346 66.8 358 60.3 350 64.6

647 93.2 538 98.3 554 95.8 542 97.6

406 82.0 352 83.0 384 79.9 379 80.7

594 84.0 568 88.2 602 83.1 592 84.8

1,119 72.9 1,012 78.7 999 74.6 969 69.0

30 60.0 26 61.5 51 51.0 51 51.0

1,046 63.0 998 65.0 971 59.4 989 56.2

454 90.1 471 89.8 459 93.0 456 89.7

1,304 77.8 1,129 78.5 946 72.0 956 66.0

642 69.0 671 68.1 637 64.1 474 54.0

1,472 94.9 1,889 85.9 2,267 81.3 2,186 80.0

225 66.7 230 63.9 243 57.6 243 51.0

174 98.3 208 76.4 184 87.5 176 89.8

306 86.9 370 72.4 369 79.7 350 79.4

2,986 68.1 2,504 75.9 1,848 75.3 1,664 70.6

375 63.5 59 108.5 58 89.7 59 61.0

1,318 93.7 1,177 96.9 1,171 81.4 1,286 66.5

1,770 93.1 1,905 83.2 1,539 84.0 1,521 72.9

16,840 84.5 15,813 86.5 14,054 82.9 14,324 82.1

2,823 84.3 2,543 82.6 2,065 73.0 2,050 62.6

63 55.6 63 92.1 67 74.6 66 63.6

3,063 91.3 3,195 89.8 3,590 87.9 3,519 74.5

6,057 81.0 6,110 84.9 5,824 87.0 5,763 84.6

1,053 87.1 1,347 88.5 1,310 87.5 1,319 83.9
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 86 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Chemical Operations Specialist 5,954 75.9 6,188 79.0

Combat Engineer 15,509 79.1 15,062 78.1

Combat Engineering Senior Sergeant 342 105.0 330 98.5

Communications Interceptor/Locator 42 71.4 34 91.2

Concrete and Asphalt Equipment Operator 266 71.1 278 70.5

Construction Equipment Repairer 3,328 91.1 3,229 92.5

Construction Equipment Supervisor 748 99.1 754 95.5

Cryptologic Communications Interceptor/ Locator 479 64.5 422 70.1

Electronic Intelligence Interceptor/

Analyst 29 93.1 25 124.0

Electronic and Missile Systems

Maintenance Chief 23 91.3 26 84.6

Electronic Maintenance Chief 278 89.9 270 88.1

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialist 80 125.0 99 89.9

Field Artillery Automated Tactical Data System Specialist 0 0.0 258 44.6

Field Artillery Firefinder Radar Operator 403 85.4 408 85.0

Field Artillery Meteorological Crewmember 375 84.5 342 93.0

Field Artillery Senior Sergeant 733 100.5 744 99.6

Field Artillery Surveyor 957 93.7 954 91.3

Fire Control Systems Repairer 344 61.9 315 62.2

Fire Support Specialist 4,943 75.3 4,821 74.7

Food Service Operations 11,682 89.2 11,607 90.1

General Construction Equipment Operator 2,340 85.3 2,314 88.8

Ground Surveillance Systems Operator 345 73.3 332 77.4

Heavy Construction Equipment Operator 3,912 95.2 3,941 99.8

Human Intelligence Collector 560 80.7 595 80.3

Human Resources Information Systems Management 

Specialist 249 103.6 251 96.4

Indirect Fire Infantryman 4,722 85.6 4,676 83.5

Infantryman 40,541 82.0 39,924 82.5

Information Systems Chief 62 100.0 71 98.6

Integrated Family of Test Equipment Operator and Maintainer 110 72.7 110 73.6

Land Combat Electronic Missile System Repairer 647 66.5 646 59.3

M1 Abrams Tank System Maintainer 2,132 77.1 2,153 67.7

M1 Armor Crewman 10,791 76.6 10,847 71.8

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 87 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

6,581 83.3 6,377 88.7 6,606 80.4 6,606 76.6

14,683 80.8 13,686 89.2 13,090 90.7 12,998 86.6

319 97.8 298 99.7 300 96.3 303 90.8

32 125.0 57 64.9 46 78.3 45 84.4

257 78.6 291 70.1 343 59.5 355 50.4

2,973 98.5 2,917 90.4 2,948 83.0 2,977 79.4

738 98.8 762 92.3 773 93.3 756 89.0

406 75.4 354 82.2 379 68.6 383 70.0

29 82.8 36 47.2 30 70.0 34 35.3

26 80.8 26 80.8 23 87.0 21 90.5

263 84.4 264 86.7 263 89.4 260 81.9

136 81.6 188 72.9 188 84.0 183 85.2

774 69.4 978 62.3 1,227 61.0 1,368 63.6

398 80.9 398 83.9 390 97.4 390 93.3

297 107.4 291 96.2 298 83.2 298 72.5

741 96.6 724 95.3 698 92.4 684 90.4

937 88.0 885 87.2 847 73.6 834 66.1

289 62.6 284 66.5 272 62.5 281 54.8

4,632 73.3 4,722 67.8 4,225 66.7 4,344 60.2

11,413 87.6 11,652 83.7 11,456 80.4 11,282 78.0

2,269 88.7 2,255 87.4 2,281 77.9 2,263 70.9

330 93.9 452 71.0 413 81.1 437 74.8

3,870 97.1 3,955 92.9 4,084 87.5 4,058 78.1

583 91.4 648 88.0 641 82.8 835 71.0

372 64.2 393 83.2 402 81.8 418 73.7

4,429 78.1 4,190 81.7 4,268 75.9 4,290 68.9

39,902 82.3 39,273 83.7 37,905 86.3 38,442 85.0

102 73.5 120 85.0 129 95.3 140 85.7

111 68.5 156 59.6 185 53.5 175 46.3

645 59.4 592 59.1 565 54.0 549 52.8

2,053 66.8 1,960 68.7 1,779 66.3 1,727 64.0

10,223 74.8 9,409 79.9 9,444 78.2 9,439 77.4

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 88 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Machinist 630 82.2 613 85.2

Portable Air Defense System Crewmember 3,158 55.6 2,689 62.5

Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor 956 88.6 1,016 90.6

Mental Health Specialist 0 0.0 143 81.8

Metal Worker 1,153 93.4 1,136 99.0

Microwave Systems Operator-Maintainer 168 78.0 136 88.2

Military Intelligence Systems Maintainer/

Integrator 52 42.3 42 73.8

Military Police 12,017 95.8 12,011 95.2

Mortuary Affairs Specialist 60 71.7 65 93.8

Motor Transport Operator 19,286 85.2 19,472 89.2

Multichannel Transmission Systems Operator-Maintainer 3,903 76.0 3,838 74.4

Multiple Launch Rocket System Operational Fire Direction 

Specialist 960 75.9 1,086 78.5

Multiple Launch Rocket System / High Mobility Artillery Rocket 

System Crewmember 2,057 94.6 2,293 94.8

Multiple Launch Rocket System Repairer 346 69.1 361 72.6

Network Switching Systems Operator-Maintainer 2,123 79.7 2,104 76.2

Optical Laboratory Specialist 30 83.3 29 89.7

Patriot Fire Control Enhanced Operator/Maintainer 104 50.0 128 46.9

Patriot Launching Station Enhanced Operator/

Maintainer 223 63.7 274 51.1

Patriot System Repairer 23 69.6 22 63.6

Petroleum Laboratory Specialist 196 62.2 231 58.9

Petroleum Supply Specialist 7,770 70.7 7,873 70.1

Plumber 511 80.2 535 80.6

Power-Generation Equipment Repairer 3,376 78.1 3,256 80.1

Quarrying Specialist 343 63.0 362 74.6

Quartermaster and Chemical Equipment Repairer 1,937 67.5 1,848 67.9

Radar Repairer 185 53.0 163 57.7

Radio and Communications Security Repairer 1,186 71.4 1,159 71.6

Radio Operator-Maintainer 3,570 77.6 3,413 80.8

Signal Support Systems Specialist 7,354 93.1 7,141 94.5

Signals Collector/

Analyst 6 50.0 5 60.0

Signals Intelligence Analyst 246 74.4 238 82.4

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 89 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

622 82.8 652 78.8 642 80.4 644 76.2

2,366 57.9 2,065 68.9 1,459 67.2 1,130 58.8

1,060 93.9 1,093 95.3 1,079 93.3 1,061 93.6

143 93.0 152 86.8 163 88.3 147 96.6

1,123 97.4 1,115 94.7 1,110 89.8 1,116 83.2

115 97.4 125 88.0 124 72.6 118 67.8

44 86.4 96 45.8 70 77.1 76 77.6

12,572 96.2 13,613 91.1 15,557 102.7 16,429 88.1

64 90.6 66 83.3 71 94.4 70 90.0

19,844 90.6 22,146 83.1 21,412 83.9 21,564 77.6

4,050 70.4 4,013 71.8 3,932 74.2 3,911 68.2

1,296 78.2 1,238 94.4 1,523 80.4 1,340 72.3

2,480 94.8 2,514 100.5 3,106 82.1 2,802 85.9

344 67.2 395 55.4 382 62.6 368 56.8

2,234 73.8 2,235 73.4 2,193 73.3 2,148 64.7

34 64.7 36 80.6 37 64.9 34 91.2

101 43.6 101 55.4 101 49.5 101 25.7

221 60.6 227 60.4 226 53.5 225 30.7

29 58.6 29 65.5 32 37.5 19 42.1

200 77.5 218 62.8 205 67.8 201 70.6

7,686 73.0 7,456 76.9 7,684 71.1 7,560 68.5

545 77.6 553 81.2 611 75.1 606 65.7

3,321 81.2 3,381 78.5 3,376 77.3 3,389 72.0

431 65.4 331 111.2 358 77.7 268 58.2

1,692 72.7 1,647 75.2 1,560 67.9 1,501 61.9

183 63.9 201 62.7 210 65.2 211 58.3

1,122 71.7 1,082 71.7 1051 68.3 1,025 63.1

3,188 82.7 2,897 84.5 2,808 81.4 2,631 78.6

6,845 93.8 6,483 93.9 6,299 93.8 6,252 86.6

5 80.0 5 40.0 5 40.0 5 40.0

241 80.9 265 66.4 247 73.3 270 71.1

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 90 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Small Arms Artillery Repairer 573 94.4 587 92.8

Special Electronic Devices Repairer 1,078 78.3 999 84.3

Special Forces Assistant Operations and Intelligence Sergeant 159 70.4 166 60.2

Special Forces Senior Sergeant 233 104.7 240 92.9

Special Purpose Equipment Repairer 281 87.2 269 91.1

Tactical Automated Fire Control Systems Specialist 1,018 97.3 1,004 87.9

Telecommunications Operations Chief 762 93.7 762 96.9

Test, Measurement, and Diagnostic Equipment Maintenance 

Support Specialist 38 68.4 35 65.7

Topographic Surveyor 20 90.0 17 94.1

Track Vehicle Repairer 5,096 79.1 4,776 81.7

Translator / Interpreter 600 81.0 572 80.9

Transmission and Distribution Specialist 13 69.2 11 90.9

Transportation Management Coordinator 334 98.5 337 94.1

Transportation Senior Sergeant 198 98.0 199 99.5

UH-60 Helicopter Repairer 2,498 95.6 2,513 98.2

Utilities Equipment Repairer 1,387 87.2 1,270 89.4

Water Treatment Specialist 1,424 93.2 1,446 99.4

Watercraft Engineer 16 87.5 16 93.8

Watercraft Operator 17 88.2 17 94.1

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 91 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

620 92.4 593 94.4 594 96.0 597 92.6

944 88.6 935 82.6 957 76.1 987 65.5

166 77.1 174 74.7 172 58.7 171 57.3

247 97.6 263 95.1 259 84.9 260 90.4

272 93.8 272 85.3 272 86.4 276 83.0

912 90.5 949 88.5 865 77.0 811 71.6

775 94.6 802 90.1 804 86.9 793 88.4

36 77.8 65 44.6 33 78.8 32 93.8

19 73.7 19 94.7 19 84.2 19 63.2

4,715 78.3 4,739 77.1 4,956 75.3 4,865 69.2

541 86.1 547 64.9 528 71.2 300 65.7

10 90.0 10 60.0 10 70.0 10 110.0

334 95.5 369 98.4 379 91.6 369 86.4

199 98.5 224 92.0 222 96.8 225 103.1

2,595 97.8 3,094 109.0 3,454 96.6 3,426 97.8

1,202 89.0 1,275 83.1 1,270 79.8 1,280 71.3

1,627 89.3 1,606 93.3 1,799 80.1 1,810 71.7

16 87.5 18 83.3 18 72.2 18 61.1

17 105.9 18 88.9 18 88.9 18 72.2

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 92 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 24: Army Reserve’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Air Defense Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and 

Intelligence Tactical Operations Center Enhanced Operator/

Maintainer 3 966.7 3 1,133.3

Air Traffic Control Operator 12 291.7 12 308.3

Aircraft Structural Repairer 44 113.6 40 122.5

Armor Senior Sergeant 44 213.6 42 242.9

Artillery Mechanic 47 191.5 33 227.3

Avenger Crewmember 2 8,250.0 4 3,475.0

Aviation Operations Specialist 147 118.4 134 135.8

Avionic Communications Equipment Repairer 9 322.2 9 277.8

Avionic Mechanic 38 128.9 32 150.0

Bradley Fighting Vehicle System Maintainer 59 325.4 47 393.6

Cannon Crewmember 451 291.6 452 265.9

Cavalry Scout 372 175.0 341 182.1

Combat Engineering Senior Sergeant 148 120.9 139 123.7

Communications Interceptor/Locator 2 3,050.0 2 2,550.0

Cryptologic Communications Interceptor/Locator 107 243.0 101 229.7

Electronic Intelligence Interceptor/Analyst 87 140.2 85 144.7

Field Artillery Senior Sergeant 34 247.1 34 252.9

Fire Control Repairer 12 216.7 10 280.0

Fire Support Specialist 30 430.0 25 844.0

Food Service Operations 3,693 104.3 3,661 109.2

Ground Surveillance Systems Operator 4 1,450.0 4 1,250.0

Indirect Fire Infantryman 140 335.7 154 281.2

Infantryman 4,647 141.9 3,192 196.9

Information Technology Specialist 1,307 107.7 1,275 112.5

Land Combat Electronic Missile System Repairer 7 428.6 16 131.3

M1 Abrams Tank System Maintainer 98 195.9 75 253.3

M1 Armor Crewman 390 268.7 392 253.6

Microwave Systems Operator-Maintainer 90 140.0 91 130.8

Multichannel Transmission Systems Operator-Maintainer 536 125.9 530 125.5

Multiple Launch Rocket System Repairer 2 1,200.0 4 600.0

Network Switching Systems Operator-Maintainer 335 105.7 326 119.3

Patient Administration Specialist 1,192 95.1 901 128.0
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 93 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

3 866.7 3 933.3 3 766.7 3 766.7

12 358.3 12 291.7 12 325.0 12 241.7

37 113.5 37 124.3 36 130.6 36 125.0

83 125.3 38 223.7 39 212.8 40 225.0

33 184.8 33 200.0 33 212.1 21 204.8

2 5,800.0 2 5,150.0 2 5,000.0 2 4,150.0

139 127.3 143 116.8 159 111.9 161 101.2

7 200.0 7 242.9 8 150.0 8 150.0

31 148.4 32 131.3 28 171.4 32 118.8

71 249.3 45 333.3 43 344.2 29 355.2

819 132.2 372 256.7 242 352.1 242 301.2

639 89.5 271 188.6 282 196.1 281 167.3

203 83.3 134 123.1 132 129.5 135 129.6

2 2,200.0 2 1,450.0 2 1,400.0 0 0.0

98 219.4 98 210.2 98 153.1 56 217.9

86 118.6 89 103.4 86 118.6 87 94.3

69 114.5 35 208.6 24 262.5 24 250.0

10 250.0 10 170.0 9 188.9 9 133.3

31 629.0 30 656.7 30 680.0 32 487.5

3,652 107.9 3,558 105.7 3,548 102.1 3,487 91.9

8 487.5 6 600.0 6 583.3 6 466.7

169 224.9 62 580.6 62 509.7 62 437.1

4,110 140.3 1,996 243.4 1,834 260.1 1,826 233.3

1,444 101.0 1,395 105.3 1,372 107.1 1,582 84.6

10 330.0 10 220.0 11 145.5 11 145.5

99 163.6 43 337.2 43 244.2 27 303.7

729 128.7 313 255.3 320 229.4 320 191.3

93 128.0 87 113.8 81 119.8 81 106.2

523 131.5 486 133.7 484 134.9 495 113.1

3 600.0 3 533.3 3 400.0 3 266.7

352 109.7 355 115.5 350 115.4 340 105.9

916 127.3 920 121.7 914 111.5 846 109.8
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 94 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Radio Operator-Maintainer 179 233.0 110 303.6

Radiology Specialist 662 82.0 538 106.1

Satellite Communication Systems Operator-Maintainer 3 833.3 4 500.0

Signals Collector/ Analyst 1 2,000.0 0 0

Signals Intelligence Analyst 109 158.7 105 149.5

Signals Intelligence (Electronic Warfare)/ Senior Sergeant/ Chief 2 1,400.0 0 0

Special Forces Communications Sergeant 1 700.0 1 700.0

Special Forces Senior Sergeant 15 106.7 12 133.3

Special Forces Weapons Sergeant 2 450.0 2 350.0

Transportation Senior Sergeant 436 112.4 448 124.8

UH-1 Helicopter Repairer 2 3,700.0 2 2,450.0

UH-60 Helicopter Repairer 42 240.5 46 245.7

Visual Information Operations Chief 20 80.0 19 105.3

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 95 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

59 423.7 48 422.9 45 431.1 46 295.7

537 109.9 430 134.2 399 148.9 343 165.0

3 900.0 5 600.0 4 900.0 69 53.6

2 950.0 2 750.0 2 950.0 2 800.0

104 137.5 116 118.1 116 127.6 115 118.3

6 266.7 7 200.0 7 214.3 9 155.6

1 500.0 1 200.0 1 200.0 1 300.0

16 87.5 15 133.3 11 163.6 11 127.3

2 200.0 2 150.0 1 400.0 1 500.0

561 102.7 433 128.9 440 125.7 457 126.5

2 1,900.0 2 1,650.0 2 1,250.0 2 600.0

75 178.7 74 173.0 71 174.6 71 163.4

19 126.3 19 110.5 18 172.2 22 145.5

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 96 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 25: Army Reserve’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

AH-64 Attack Helicopter Repairer 159 101.3 165 87.3

AH-64A Armament/Electrical/Avionic Systems Repairer 78 89.7 80 87.5

Aircraft Components Repair Supervisor 13 38.5 15 40.0

Ammunition Specialist 2,488 66.3 2,537 71.7

Army Bandperson 800 64.4 760 74.3

Bridge Crewmember 865 67.9 669 100.3

Cargo Specialist 1,806 84.6 1,893 88.9

CH-47 Helicopter Repairer 481 54.5 394 73.9

Chemical Operations Specialist 5,779 68.0 5634 78.2

Chief Public Affairs Noncommissioned Officer 55 74.5 57 75.4

Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent 152 85.5 152 94.7

Command Sergeant Major 787 86.8 761 88.2

Combat Documentation/ Production Specialist 199 78.9 180 88.3

Concrete and Asphalt Equipment Operator 232 72.8 228 82.9

Construction Engineering Supervisor 1,768 43.0 1,851 41.4

Construction Equipment Repairer 2,150 77.6 2,019 85.6

Electronic and Missile Systems Maintenance Chief 6 50.0 9 33.3

Electronic Maintenance Chief 123 44.7 120 55.8

Financial Management Technician 1,752 91.7 1,734 92.7

Firefighter 495 71.1 523 69.8

General Construction Equipment Operator 1,819 74.8 1,798 79.9

Health Care Specialist 13,116 81.8 11,295 92.8

Heavy Construction Equipment Operator 2,385 63.7 2,318 71.1

Hospital Food Service Specialist 1,564 58.7 1261 77.8

Human Intelligence Collector 389 50.9 325 55.1

Human Resources Information Systems Management Specialist 343 69.7 342 66.1

Human Resources Specialist 17,810 75.7 7,224 201.7

Imagery Analyst 336 48.5 262 72.1

Integrated Family of Test Equipment Operator and Maintainer 2 750.0 22 40.9

Intelligence Analyst 1,353 77.1 1,376 77.8

Interior Electrician 369 103.8 377 94.7

Light-Wheel Vehicle Mechanic 9,574 80.6 8,905 91.4
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 97 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

161 88.2 161 87.6 201 75.6 187 78.6

64 98.4 64 93.8 34 129.4 68 70.6

13 53.8 13 53.8 13 53.8 15 40.0

2,209 79.4 2,319 83.3 2,627 72.2 2,501 70.4

760 78.8 742 83.4 760 87.5 760 87.6

702 90.6 941 75.7 942 73.5 1,078 53.2

1,952 84.7 1,720 94.6 1,675 95.3 1,890 75.8

391 77.5 395 79.7 388 80.9 388 77.3

6,197 77.6 5,520 90.8 5,647 81.2 5,292 78.3

60 80.0 55 87.3 52 163.5 171 50.3

152 99.3 183 81.4 184 77.7 186 71.0

1,015 65.8 763 90.6 768 85.4 772 85.2

167 99.4 165 91.5 164 92.1 162 81.5

229 80.8 265 71.3 265 75.5 270 70.0

2,010 37.8 1,360 60.0 1,358 66.9 1,319 70.6

1,838 90.0 1,772 95.0 1,776 92.6 1,777 83.2

4 50.0 4 50.0 4 25.0 6 16.7

95 61.1 95 55.8 94 62.8 82 72.0

1,875 81.5 1,722 91.8 1,727 85.5 1,756 77.4

459 81.9 384 104.7 530 73.8 396 87.9

1,631 88.9 1,642 88.9 1,709 83.9 1,676 76.5

11,664 83.5 11,026 86.8 10,166 90.3 9,315 87.5

2,402 70.6 2,405 74.0 2,437 72.6 2,366 65.7

1,218 88.2 1,220 77.5 1,125 81.3 1,010 76.6

352 56.5 387 51.4 387 52.2 688 26.7

410 57.6 344 66.0 344 67.4 341 60.4

27,147 54.0 20,557 0.0 20,899 0.0 6 0.0

269 78.8 280 80.7 273 72.5 405 42.2

25 32.0 25 16.0 25 28.0 14 28.6

1,565 68.8 1,385 80.0 1,323 85.1 1,602 67.7

383 91.9 386 94.8 386 92.2 382 84.6

9,329 86.7 9,023 90.8 9,010 85.6 8,219 89.0
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 98 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Lithographer 291 74.9 260 86.5

Machinist 249 73.1 208 96.2

Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor 468 64.1 503 71.0

Medical Equipment Repairer 427 72.8 397 89.7

Medical Laboratory Specialist 1,489 53.7 1,292 60.6

Medical Logistics Specialist 1,810 80.7 1,574 82.1

Mental Health Specialist 658 74.6 594 79.3

Mortuary Affairs Specialist 416 70.9 300 95.7

Motor Transport Operator 13,524 70.5 13,742 74.9

Optical Laboratory Specialist 116 72.4 114 71.1

Parachute Rigger 327 70.6 330 81.2

Paralegal Specialist 1,077 71.5 1,130 78.8

Patriot System Repairer 2 0.0 4 0.0

Petroleum Laboratory Specialist 301 49.2 294 65.6

Petroleum Supply Specialist 5,105 75.2 5,286 90.8

Plumber 476 67.2 525 67.4

Preventive Medicine Specialist 398 65.1 370 81.1

Prime Power Production Specialist 88 14.8 88 17.0

Public Affairs Broadcast Specialist 282 64.9 285 72.6

Public Affairs Specialist 363 67.5 368 82.6

Quarrying Specialist 428 55.6 428 67.8

Quartermaster and Chemical Equipment Repairer 941 84.9 878 95.9

Radar Repairer 30 53.3 31 45.2

Radio and Communications Security Repairer 385 63.4 348 75.9

Railway Equipment Repairer 89 82.0 89 75.3

Railway Operations Crewmember 294 81.3 290 79.3

Railway Section Repairer 133 75.2 133 78.2

Senior Noncommissioned Logistician 126 85.7 140 85.0

Shower/ Laundry and Clothing Repair Specialist 2,094 81.3 1,977 87.1

Special Electronic Devices Repairer 335 73.4 289 106.2

Special Forces Assistant Operations and Intelligence Sergeant 6 0.0 3 0.0

Telecommunications Operations Chief 719 49.9 696 55.3

Translator/ Interpreter 1,186 10.9 614 19.7

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 99 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

252 87.3 166 116.9 166 94.0 160 72.5

203 98.0 203 97.0 203 104.9 198 99.5

571 68.8 487 96.5 482 99.0 477 93.9

369 95.1 372 91.9 384 86.2 379 76.8

1,288 61.6 1268 62.0 1,185 65.8 1064 65.5

1,587 78.4 1524 89.4 1,458 91.2 1307 89.4

606 83.3 588 88.3 493 93.3 413 101.7

297 96.6 287 98.3 318 77.4 317 67.5

14,839 73.8 14,095 82.0 14,035 83.4 13,961 77.7

104 77.9 84 94.0 72 94.4 76 81.6

327 96.6 336 96.1 334 95.2 338 86.1

1,320 68.7 1,116 85.3 1,140 91.3 1,143 88.0

3 66.7 3 100.0 3 33.3 3 66.7

289 74.7 289 75.1 290 73.4 291 64.6

5,735 95.4 5,417 103.8 5,553 97.8 5,534 84.6

532 85.0 531 82.3 532 78.4 527 70.6

371 82.5 374 74.1 422 64.2 449 54.3

61 21.3 60 20.0 26 34.6 50 18.0

275 74.2 276 71.7 277 58.1 245 60.4

363 85.1 344 86.0 330 81.2 269 91.1

434 67.7 216 100.5 443 41.3 194 75.3

844 93.2 829 99.5 819 92.6 793 83.7

21 81.0 24 83.3 23 56.5 21 57.1

303 91.4 303 83.2 301 85.0 249 90.8

89 68.5 89 73.0 89 78.7 89 76.4

290 84.8 289 90.7 289 85.5 289 72.7

134 79.9 133 86.5 132 87.1 132 68.2

156 71.8 135 88.9 139 94.2 141 86.5

1,982 84.2 1,974 93.4 1,984 92.4 2,037 82.3

292 99.7 289 95.2 288 89.6 256 90.6

3 33.3 2 100.0 2 50.0 2 50.0

759 55.1 665 62.0 642 66.8 656 65.9

382 33.2 292 36.3 294 21.8 253 13.8

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 100 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Transmission and Distribution Specialist 65 44.6 65 35.4

Transportation Management Coordinator 2,899 64.2 3,100 81.5

Unit Supply Specialist 7,628 69.7 7,095 75.0

Veterinary Food Inspection Specialist 408 77.0 387 91.7

Visual Information Equipment Operator-Maintainer 75 66.7 75 73.3

Water Treatment Specialist 1,750 70.9 2,004 81.0

Watercraft Engineer 431 53.4 393 66.9

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 101 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

33 66.7 32 62.5 32 59.4 32 46.9

3,088 86.6 3,020 93.3 3,020 92.3 2,938 86.7

8,918 58.1 7,009 75.9 7,298 75.0 7,400 69.9

381 88.2 381 92.1 381 91.9 381 76.1

77 80.5 77 89.6 77 84.4 77 77.9

2,021 89.6 2,026 85.5 2,028 85.3 2,030 73.2

379 68.9 275 93.1 230 108.3 434 51.8

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 102 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 26: Navy Reserve’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Occupational specialty title

2002

Authorized level Percentage filled

Aviation Boatswain's Mate 622 113.0

Aviation Electronics Technician 863 101.0

Aviation Machinist's Mate 702 103.4

Aviation Maintenance Administrationman 248 110.9

Aviation Maintenanceman 10 120.0

Aviation Support Equipment Technician 193 133.7

Constructionman 28 117.9

Damage Controlman 366 104.9

Disbursing Clerk 251 137.1

Electrician's Mate 622 117.0

Engineman 955 101.3

Fire Controlman 352 107.1

Fireman 117 394.9

Gas Turbine System Technician 283 104.6

Information System Technician 2,552 118.3

Interior Communications Electrician 219 108.2

Journalist 186 134.4

Machinery Repairman 272 111.4

Machinist's Mate 925 111.2

Personnelman 640 121.9

Photographer's Mate 206 119.9

Postal Clerk 274 107.3

Seaman 178 886.5

Ship's Serviceman 437 115.8

Storekeeper 4,185 105.2

Utilities Constructionman 17 111.8

Yeoman 2,214 112.0
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 103 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2003 2004 2005

Authorized level Percentage filled Authorized level Percentage filled Authorized level Percentage filled

584 124.5 354 190.7 395 157.5

853 109.7 793 108.7 642 121.7

707 120.4 663 108.0 578 117.5

250 131.6 207 129.5 180 128.3

10 160.0 8 175.0 7 171.4

194 130.9 152 152.0 142 150.7

34 111.8 25 136.0 25 112.0

333 118.3 213 179.8 201 187.6

251 118.7 214 129.9 210 127.1

635 113.9 374 183.7 364 162.6

963 105.6 744 119.4 708 117.2

319 119.1 257 140.9 239 138.1

130 176.2 22 700.0 14 1378.6

248 129.4 115 253.9 111 250.5

2,504 118.3 2,171 128.8 2111 119.4

196 133.7 141 175.9 110 172.7

183 129.0 162 132.7 165 109.1

249 114.1 175 141.7 179 124.0

806 116.4 549 153.2 500 152.0

635 119.2 565 133.1 541 129.4

181 128.7 147 149.0 140 124.3

260 114.6 229 118.8 193 125.9

152 648.0 84 1,002.4 73 1016.4

407 124.1 283 165.7 216 181.0

4,679 115.6 3,863 131.4 3,683 128.6

19 126.3 16 131.3 16 106.3

2,151 119.1 1,818 127.2 1,770 120.6
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 104 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 27: Navy Reserve’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Occupational specialty title

2002

Authorized level Percentage filled

Aerographer's Mate 218 75.7

Air Traffic Controller 164 88.4

Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 151 74.2

Aviation Electrician's Mate 649 82.3

Aviation Structural Mechanic 1,015 92.0

Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 354 76.0

Construction Mechanic 1989 79.1

Cryptologic Technician 893 75.3

Engineering Aide 431 75.4

Master-At-Arms 1,630 60.9

Mineman 240 49.6

Steelworker 789 96.1
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 105 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2003 2004 2005

Authorized level Percentage filled Authorized level Percentage filled Authorized level Percentage filled

187 97.9 185 95.7 182 84.1

165 70.9 135 80.0 148 69.6

139 77.7 130 68.5 110 80.0

646 83.3 599 84.8 497 91.8

1,031 95.6 941 99.5 833 99.6

345 73.3 259 88.4 210 94.3

1,752 89.0 1,643 85.6 1613 78.1

892 77.8 807 90.5 833 99.6

332 83.7 313 78.0 301 74.8

2,462 56.2 2,428 70.6 2,139 81.2

306 50.7 252 65.5 238 67.6

803 92.9 769 86.5 755 81.9
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 106 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 28: Marine Corps Reserve’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Personnel Clerk 329 173.9 330 173.3

Administrative Clerk 395 149.4 411 143.6

Infantry Assaultman 459 125.9 459 126.1

Logistics/ Embarkation and Combat Service Support 

Specialist

193 140.9 194 140.2

Fire Support Man 144 170.1 240 102.1

Electrician 154 120.1 154 120.1

Small Arms Repairer/Technician 206 155.8 200 159.5

Supply Administration and Operations Clerk 616 140.9 614 141.0

Packaging Specialist 9 166.7 9 166.7

Organizational Automotive Mechanic 922 117.0 926 116.4

Motor Transport Maintenance Chief 45 122.2 46 119.6

Motor Vehicle Operator 1,521 112.7 1,585 108.1

Legal Services Specialist 12 208.3 11 227.3

Helicopter Power Plants Mechanic, T-64 7 157.1 7 142.9

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Mechanic, KC-130 22 118.2 22 118.2

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Mechanic, F/A-18 45 124.4 45 124.4

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Airframe Mechanic, KC-130 16 150.0 16 150.0

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Airframe Mechanic, F/A-18 16 162.5 17 152.9

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Safety Equipment Mechanic, KC-130 4 175.0 4 175.0

Aircraft Communications Systems Technician 14 114.3 14 114.3

Aircraft Electrical/Instrument/Flight Control Systems 

Technician, Fixed-Wing

12 166.7 12 158.3

Aircraft Electrical/

Instrument/Flight Control Systems Technician, Helicopter

16 112.5 16 112.5

Avionics Test Set Technician 8 125.0 8 125.0

Aviation Ordnance Systems Technician 86 104.7 86 104.7

Aviation Operations Specialist 48 133.3 41 156.1

Field Radio Operator 1,768 104.7 1741 106.3

Engineer Equipment Mechanic 311 102.9 311 103.2

Towed Artillery Systems Technician 41 122.0 41 122.0

Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment Technician 5 120.0 7 85.7

Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Specialist 160 105.6 170 99.4

Military Police 632 109.2 645 106.7
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 107 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

329 162.3 329 154.1 325 127.1 297 129.0

395 142.3 396 131.1 397 119.9 329 128.0

459 117.2 459 117.2 459 109.4 501 102.4

193 140.4 193 123.8 189 116.9 175 120.6

144 176.4 159 163.5 230 112.2 187 119.3

154 113.0 154 112.3 147 126.5 148 125.0

206 143.7 206 145.6 210 127.6 199 125.1

616 128.1 614 125.7 560 116.1 517 110.1

9 122.2 9 155.6 9 133.3 8 125.0

922 110.5 922 116.7 923 120.8 856 126.1

45 102.2 46 113.0 46 119.6 40 112.5

1,521 112.9 1,521 112.2 1,518 113.4 1,400 118.9

12 141.7 12 158.3 12 175.0 9 177.8

7 171.4 7 142.9 7 157.1 7 114.3

22 150.0 22 154.5 22 150.0 22 145.5

45 115.6 45 115.6 34 141.2 34 126.5

16 150.0 16 187.5 16 175.0 16 156.3

16 156.3 16 118.8 12 183.3 12 191.7

4 125.0 4 150.0 4 150.0 4 175.0

14 121.4 14 150.0 14 121.4 14 142.9

12 175.0 12 125.0 11 172.7 11 145.5

16 125.0 16 125.0 16 106.3 16 118.8

8 162.5 8 125.0 6 183.3 6 150.0

86 112.8 86 103.5 81 108.6 74 120.3

48 122.9 48 118.8 38 150.0 32 187.5

1,768 103.9 1,781 106.1 1,753 103.4 1,614 98.1

311 98.4 318 107.5 317 102.5 316 102.5

41 122.0 41 129.3 40 107.5 34 97.1

5 140.0 5 180.0 5 200.0 5 200.0

160 101.9 161 113.0 165 103.0 162 103.7

632 95.1 632 105.5 632 106.0 709 108.3
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 108 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Aircraft Intermediate Level Structures Mechanic 13 176.9 27 85.2

Helicopter Mechanic, CH-53 12 133.3 12 133.3

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Power Plants Mechanic, F-404 12 108.3 14 92.9

Aircraft Navigation Systems Technician 16 131.3 16 131.3

Radar Systems Test Station Technician 8 112.5 8 100.0

Aircraft Electronic Countermeasures Systems 

Technician, Fixed-Wing

10 140.0 10 140.0

Barracks and Grounds Marine 2 600.0 2 450.0

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 109 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

13 200.0 13 200.0 13 230.8 13 176.9

12 100.0 12 116.7 12 133.3 12 133.3

12 141.7 12 125.0 9 222.2 9 144.4

16 137.5 16 131.3 16 100.0 16 125.0

8 112.5 8 112.5 6 133.3 6 150.0

10 140.0 10 120.0 10 120.0 10 80.0

2 150.0 2 200.0 2 250.0 0 0.0

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 110 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 29: Marine Corps Reserve’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Scout Sniper 153 71.2 153 70.6

Microminiature Repairer 6 0.0 0 0.0

Reconnaissance Man, Parachute Qualified 6 16.7 2 50.0

2M/ATE Technician 43 60.5 44 59.1

AN/MSC-63A Maintenance Technician 3 0.0 4 0.0

Wire Chief 68 41.2 66 42.4

Accident Investigator 14 7.1 15 6.7

Advanced Aircraft Communication/Navigation Systems Technician 15 120.0 20 90.0

Advanced Aircraft Electrical/Instrument/Flight Control Systems 

Technician 7 85.7 8 75.0

Advanced Automatic Test Equipment Technician 7 42.9 8 37.5

Air Control Electronics Operator 64 43.8 64 43.8

Air Traffic Control Systems Maintenance Chief 2 0.0 2 0.0

Air Traffic Controller-Tower 10 90.0 0 0.0

Airborne Radio Operator/ Inflight Refueling Observer/ Loadmaster 23 65.2 12 125.0

Aircraft Communications/Navigation/

Electrical/Weapon Systems Technician, U/AH-1 65 69.2 67 67.2

Aircraft Cryptographic Systems Technician 4 25.0 4 25.0

Aircraft Electronic Countermeasures Systems Technician, 

Helicopter 18 33.3 13 46.2

Aircraft Intermediate Level Hydraulic/Pneumatic Mechanic 24 83.3 25 80.0

Aircraft Maintenance SE Electrician/ Refrigeration Mechanic 42 92.9 42 92.9

Aircraft Maintenance SE Hydraulic/ Pneumatic/ Structures 

Mechanic 40 85.0 41 82.9

Aircraft Nondestructive Inspection Technician 13 0.0 2 0.0

Aircraft Power Plants Test Cell Operator 10 30.0 0 0.0

Aircraft Welder 4 0.0 0 0.0

Ammunition Technician 511 79.3 509 79.6

Antitank Missileman 567 93.1 567 93.3

Artillery Electronics Technician 24 20.8 24 20.8

Assault Amphibious Vehicle Repairer/Technician 129 72.1 129 72.1

Assault Amphibious Vehicle Crewman 325 90.5 325 90.5

Intermediate Automotive Mechanic 162 21.0 162 21.0

Aviation Information Systems Specialist 51 0.0 51 0.0
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 111 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

153 62.1 153 34.0 153 32.0 178 29.8

6 0.0 6 0.0 6 0.0 6 0.0

6 50.0 4 25.0 4 0.0 4 0.0

43 60.5 43 67.4 43 60.5 43 53.5

3 0.0 3 0.0 3 0.0 3 0.0

68 41.2 68 45.6 68 30.9 65 24.6

14 14.3 14 0.0 14 7.1 16 6.3

15 60.0 15 60.0 15 26.7 15 26.7

7 57.1 7 85.7 7 114.3 7 85.7

7 57.1 7 71.4 6 50.0 6 33.3

64 42.2 64 64.1 64 81.3 64 96.9

2 0.0 2 0.0 2 50.0 2 50.0

10 70.0 10 40.0 10 40.0 10 30.0

23 69.6 23 91.3 23 78.3 23 82.6

65 64.6 65 66.2 65 69.2 65 90.8

4 0.0 4 0.0 4 0.0 4 0.0

18 66.7 18 77.8 18 72.2 18 61.1

24 83.3 24 70.8 24 83.3 24 100.0

42 100.0 42 81.0 41 78.0 41 82.9

40 90.0 40 80.0 40 82.5 40 82.5

13 0.0 13 0.0 13 0.0 13 0.0

10 0.0 10 0.0 10 0.0 10 0.0

4 0.0 4 0.0 4 0.0 4 0.0

511 86.9 511 98.0 508 97.0 493 94.1

567 94.7 567 99.1 567 99.3 331 151.1

24 41.7 24 41.7 24 37.5 24 33.3

129 73.6 129 84.5 129 78.3 129 57.4

325 89.8 325 99.1 325 91.7 325 68.3

162 19.1 162 20.4 162 23.5 162 25.3

51 43.1 51 64.7 51 92.2 51 100.0
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 112 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Aviation Maintenance Controller/ Production Controller 9 11.1 0 0.0

Aviation Meteorological Equipment Technician 9 77.8 9 77.8

Aviation Ordnance Chief 7 57.1 7 57.1

Aviation Precision Measurement Equipment/Calibration and Repair 

Technician 29 75.9 30 73.3

Aviation Radar Repairer 24 25.0 24 25.0

Aviation Supply Specialist 223 95.1 228 93.0

Avionics Maintenance Chief 7 85.7 7 85.7

Bulk Fuel Specialist 917 71.6 916 71.5

College Degree - Enlisted 1 0.0 2 0.0

Combat Correspondent 23 52.2 26 46.2

Combat Photographer 6 50.0 6 50.0

Combat Service Support Chief 59 72.9 59 72.9

Communications Chief 50 76.0 58 67.2

Contract Specialist 12 8.3 12 8.3

Counterintelligence/ Human Intelligence Specialist 45 55.6 46 54.3

Crash/Fire/Rescue Vehicle Mechanic 3 33.3 0 0.0

Criminal Investigator Agent 30 33.3 33 30.3

Data Chief 37 0.0 0 0.0

Defense Message System Specialist 46 0.0 0 0.0

Electronic Switching Equipment Technician 17 88.2 17 88.2

Electronics Maintenance Chief 13 46.2 14 42.9

Electronics Maintenance Technician 67 0.0 72 0.0

Engineer Assistant 39 82.1 39 82.1

Engineer Equipment Chief 35 77.1 36 75.0

Expeditionary Airfield Systems Technician 74 63.5 75 62.7

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician 18 22.2 18 22.2

Field Artillery Cannoneer 957 92.9 957 93.0

Field Artillery Operations Man 32 46.9 32 46.9

Field Artillery Radar Operator 40 42.5 40 42.5

Tactical Systems Operator/ Mission Specialist 15 40.0 15 40.0

Fiscal/Budget Technician 14 50.0 14 50.0

Fixed-Wing Aircraft Flight Engineer, KC-130 18 33.3 17 35.3

Food Service Specialist 825 83.4 826 83.3

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 113 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

9 0.0 9 0.0 9 0.0 9 0.0

9 44.4 9 44.4 9 66.7 9 100.0

7 57.1 7 71.4 6 66.7 15 33.3

29 69.0 29 82.8 29 79.3 29 82.8

24 29.2 24 62.5 24 75.0 24 91.7

223 100.4 223 93.7 221 94.6 221 87.8

7 71.4 7 57.1 7 71.4 7 85.7

917 76.6 917 81.2 917 78.5 915 83.2

1 0.0 1 0.0 1 0.0 1 100.0

23 69.6 23 69.6 23 52.2 17 82.4

6 66.7 6 83.3 6 116.7 6 50.0

59 72.9 59 71.2 55 49.1 52 44.2

50 66.0 50 58.0 49 57.1 45 44.4

12 8.3 12 0.0 12 0.0 12 0.0

45 77.8 45 95.6 83 37.3 81 50.6

3 33.3 3 33.3 3 0.0 3 33.3

30 23.3 30 13.3 30 10.0 30 23.3

37 0.0 41 34.1 45 33.3 43 32.6

46 0.0 46 17.4 46 37.0 44 45.5

17 82.4 17 94.1 17 82.4 17 88.2

13 76.9 13 69.2 13 53.8 11 45.5

67 17.9 67 34.3 71 19.7 70 21.4

39 69.2 39 61.5 39 69.2 33 81.8

35 48.6 35 51.4 35 42.9 34 35.3

74 63.5 74 73.0 73 83.6 73 93.2

18 22.2 18 16.7 18 33.3 22 18.2

957 94.8 957 93.0 894 96.1 692 100.1

32 43.8 32 43.8 32 40.6 30 33.3

40 82.5 40 105.0 40 67.5 40 57.5

15 53.3 15 60.0 15 66.7 15 40.0

14 64.3 15 46.7 15 73.3 11 72.7

18 44.4 18 5.6 18 11.1 18 11.1

825 81.9 825 81.6 677 88.9 625 93.6

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 114 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Fuel and Electrical Systems Mechanic 24 4.2 24 4.2

Ground Communications Organizational Repairer 275 0.0 272 0.0

Ground Radio Intermediate Repairer 109 0.0 114 0.0

Ground Safety Specialist 3 0.0 2 0.0

Hazardous Material/ Hazardous Waste 45 35.6 0 0.0

Helicopter Airframe Mechanic, UH/AH-1 69 85.5 71 83.1

Helicopter Crew Chief, UH-1 22 45.5 22 45.5

Helicopter Tiltrotor Dynamic Components Mechanic 25 60.0 25 60.0

Hygiene Equipment Operator 220 81.4 220 81.4

Interrogator/ Debriefer 43 81.4 43 81.4

Landing Support Specialist 476 83.6 478 83.1

Licensing Examiner 4 25.0 3 33.3

Light Armored Vehicle Repairer/Technician 89 78.7 89 78.7

Logistics Vehicle System Operator 718 72.3 718 72.4

Low Altitude Air Defense Gunner 200 74.5 200 74.5

Machinist 40 45.0 40 45.0

Marine Air Ground Task Force Planning Specialist 45 48.9 40 55.0

Main Battle Tank Repairer/Technician 203 67.0 202 66.8

Metal Worker 93 79.6 93 79.6

Meteorological and Oceanographic Forecaster 23 8.7 23 8.7

Meteorological and Oceanographic Observer 36 86.1 36 86.1

Metrology Technician 2 50.0 2 50.0

Motor Transport Operations Chief 173 61.3 175 61.1

Ordnance Vehicle Maintenance Chief 12 41.7 12 41.7

Radar Approach Controller 5 0.0 0 0.0

Radio Chief 110 53.6 103 56.3

Reconnaissance Man 407 28.7 368 31.5

Refrigeration Mechanic 95 88.4 95 88.4

Satellite Communications Technician 5 60.0 5 60.0

Semitrailer Refueler Operator 66 6.1 1 400.0

Senior Air Traffic Controller 3 66.7 3 66.7

Sergeant Major/First Sergeant 219 93.2 220 92.3

Small Craft Mechanic 22 0.0 0 0.0

Tactical Air Defense Controller 33 18.2 33 18.2

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 115 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

24 16.7 24 37.5 24 41.7 24 33.3

275 47.3 275 66.5 273 79.1 251 92.4

109 55.0 109 83.5 112 83.9 118 84.7

3 33.3 3 0.0 3 66.7 3 33.3

45 51.1 45 48.9 45 48.9 45 46.7

69 78.3 69 88.4 69 82.6 69 97.1

22 68.2 22 77.3 22 77.3 22 68.2

25 76.0 25 88.0 25 76.0 25 76.0

220 80.0 220 77.3 204 89.2 183 92.3

43 41.9 43 34.9 40 35.0 40 30.0

476 82.8 476 91.4 474 89.2 475 84.2

4 50.0 4 50.0 4 25.0 4 25.0

89 91.0 89 100.0 89 95.5 105 82.9

718 75.8 718 88.2 721 92.2 699 98.9

200 97.5 200 90.0 200 97.5 0 0.0

40 47.5 40 45.0 40 57.5 37 62.2

45 55.6 45 62.2 45 60.0 39 82.1

203 74.4 203 83.3 203 85.7 153 109.2

93 84.9 93 91.4 93 84.9 87 92.0

23 8.7 23 8.7 23 17.4 32 12.5

36 52.8 36 75.0 36 94.4 27 148.1

2 50.0 2 0.0 2 50.0 2 50.0

173 61.3 173 56.1 172 51.2 154 54.5

12 41.7 12 50.0 12 41.7 10 40.0

5 0.0 5 0.0 5 0.0 5 0.0

110 56.4 116 55.2 123 48.0 120 50.0

407 51.8 409 71.1 412 57.8 412 44.7

95 76.8 95 87.4 92 95.7 87 97.7

5 40.0 5 20.0 5 0.0 5 0.0

66 3.0 66 16.7 66 25.8 66 22.7

3 33.3 3 0.0 2 0.0 2 0.0

219 92.2 219 85.8 217 89.9 211 82.9

22 0.0 16 31.3 16 31.3 16 31.3

33 6.1 33 27.3 30 23.3 30 20.0

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 116 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Tactical Air Operations Module Technician 12 41.7 12 41.7

Tactical Data Network Gateway Systems Administrator 18 0.0 0 0.0

Tactical Data Systems Administrator 6 0.0 6 0.0

Tactical Data Systems Equipment Repairer 19 78.9 20 75.0

Tactical Network Specialist 227 0.0 0 0.0

Technical Controller 22 22.7 17 29.4

Telephone Systems/Personal Computer Intermediate Repairer 96 0.0 96 0.0

Traffic Management Specialist 133 74.4 133 74.4

Unit Level Circuit Switch Operator/Maintainer 100 69.0 98 70.4

Utilities Chief 20 80.0 20 80.0

Vehicle Recovery Operator 86 32.6 86 32.6

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 117 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

12 41.7 12 75.0 12 75.0 12 83.3

18 0.0 18 0.0 18 5.6 18 5.6

6 16.7 6 16.7 6 0.0 6 0.0

19 94.7 19 100.0 19 84.2 20 95.0

227 0.0 230 50.4 244 59.8 236 66.1

22 18.2 22 18.2 22 31.8 13 53.8

96 58.3 96 72.9 99 74.7 97 87.6

133 80.5 133 87.2 133 87.2 133 77.4

100 56.0 100 73.0 100 80.0 98 75.5

20 55.0 20 55.0 15 66.7 15 73.3

86 44.2 86 39.5 86 41.9 79 57.0

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 118 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 30: Air National Guard’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Airfield Management 298 110.1 298 109.4

Basic Enlisted Airman 90 4,117.8 90 4,224.4

Bioenvironmental Engineering 178 105.1 178 103.4

Enlisted Accessions Recruiter 503 98.6 503 101.6

Military Equal Opportunity 96 105.2 96 95.8

Operations Management 215 125.6 215 114.4

Public Affairs 107 104.7 107 98.1

Unallotted Airman 91 2,623.1 91 2,605.5

Visual Information Services 858 100.9 858 96.2
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 119 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

294 113.3 294 112.2 286 109.8 355 94.1

90 2,918.9 90 2,304.4 90 2,330.0 89 2,321.3

199 105.0 199 108.0 203 107.9 206 102.4

424 123.3 424 112.0 423 109.0 421 111.6

99 102.0 99 110.1 98 115.3 99 112.1

216 118.1 216 110.6 214 114.5 215 117.2

112 107.1 112 102.7 111 104.5 112 102.7

92 1,770.7 92 1,200.0 92 1,143.5 93 1,305.4

558 138.9 558 125.1 519 121.4 496 120.2
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 120 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 31: Air National Guard’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Aircraft Armament Systems 3,078 81.6 3,078 83.7

Aerospace Control and Warning System 904 88.8 904 91.3

Aerospace Maintenance 5,176 85.7 5,176 87.2

Medical Services 2,152 96.5 2,152 93.9

Aerospace Systems 8,760 83.0 8,760 83.0

Air Traffic Control 418 74.2 418 74.4

Air Transportation 2,051 87.0 2,051 86.3

Airborne Communications and Electrical Systems 80 65.0 80 101.3

Airborne Cryptologic Linguist 100 0.0 100 62.0

Aircraft Fabrication 2,568 86.6 2,568 86.3

Aircraft Loadmaster 834 95.2 834 98.2

Operations Resource Management 396 96.0 396 97.7

Biomedical Equipment 156 88.5 156 92.9

Chaplain Assistant 269 93.7 269 87.0

Communication Signals Intelligence 5 120.0 5 80.0

Combat Control 26 57.7 26 46.2

Communication – Computer Systems Control 389 89.5 389 86.4

Communication Systems 3,621 82.4 3,621 81.2

Communication, Network, Switching and Cryptologic Systems 1,489 90.8 1,489 86.0

Contracting 392 88.5 392 88.3

Cryptologic Linguist 10 700.0 10 50.0

Diet Therapy 49 69.4 49 61.2

Education and Training 1,229 94.7 1,229 91.5

Electrical Signals Intelligence Exploitation 8 25.0 8 25.0

Engineering 470 89.6 470 88.9

Explosive Ordnance Disposal 90 63.3 90 75.6

Fire Protection 2,038 88.3 2,038 88.4

First Sergeant 885 97.3 885 93.9

Flight Attendant 23 0.0 23 91.3

Flight Engineer 631 94.8 631 95.1

Fuels 1,513 89.2 1,513 88.2

Ground Radar Systems 747 88.2 747 82.7

Imagery Analysis 126 73.8 126 74.6
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 121 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

2,983 91.8 2,983 88.1 2,837 87.8 2,813 87.1

970 97.3 970 97.9 989 95.7 977 94.2

7,150 67.3 7,150 83.0 6,963 91.0 7,183 88.2

2,388 89.2 2,388 89.5 2,382 89.0 2,310 88.4

8,711 90.6 8,711 91.1 8,591 91.6 8,776 89.8

420 78.6 420 83.3 417 90.6 416 90.6

2,051 93.8 2,051 92.8 2,052 93.2 2,053 91.0

142 65.5 142 82.4 128 98.4 133 89.5

99 70.7 99 88.9 107 79.4 107 77.6

2,561 90.5 2,561 90.1 2,520 92.3 2,573 89.7

1,159 78.5 1,159 85.3 1,121 92.1 1,186 88.0

413 96.6 413 97.8 417 95.7 353 110.5

163 104.9 163 99.4 168 97.6 168 92.9

267 99.6 267 95.9 267 100.7 270 98.5

9 66.7 9 55.6 11 81.8 13 76.9

23 56.5 23 52.2 23 65.2 23 91.3

617 74.2 617 87.5 654 91.4 664 94.9

3,539 89.7 3,539 85.8 3,526 83.7 3,478 80.5

1,428 94.3 1,428 92.5 1,426 90.5 1,430 87.8

391 91.3 391 87.5 385 89.6 391 89.3

25 28.0 25 28.0 30 36.7 29 62.1

26 100.0 26 84.6 27 70.4 27 70.4

1,235 91.1 1,235 91.6 1,154 96.4 1,163 94.8

13 46.2 13 76.9 22 54.5 37 40.5

463 97.6 463 94.0 468 85.7 473 89.0

90 76.7 90 75.6 90 87.8 123 71.5

2,014 99.7 2,014 95.6 2,036 97.8 2,037 98.0

885 97.1 885 99.2 887 97.0 892 97.8

23 91.3 23 95.7 28 82.1 28 85.7

664 96.1 664 93.5 628 98.1 661 89.6

1,474 96.1 1,474 94.2 1,479 94.4 1,495 92.6

715 91.5 715 90.5 698 89.0 699 89.3

156 81.4 156 86.5 224 78.6 276 63.0
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 122 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Logistics Plans 508 98.4 508 98.0

Maintenance Management Analyst 298 76.5 298 76.5

Maintenance Production 450 95.3 450 93.8

Medical Laboratory 258 92.6 258 85.3

Medical Materiel 259 87.3 259 87.6

Munitions Systems 1,934 76.9 1,934 80.6

Network Intelligence Analysis 8 12.5 8 37.5

Intelligence Applications 558 90.0 558 88.2

Paralegal 185 88.1 185 86.5

Pararescue 118 86.4 118 88.1

Pavement and Construction Equipment 1,007 95.3 1,007 89.5

Personnel 2,645 97.4 2,645 94.7

Radio Communications Systems 344 70.1 344 70.9

Readiness 674 76.0 674 76.7

Services 2,586 94.8 2,586 98.8

Space Systems Operations 50 60.0 50 80.0

Structural 869 92.5 869 86.7

Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape 1 0.0 1 0.0

Tactical Air Command and Control 320 55.0 320 60.0

Tactical Aircraft Avionics Systems 5,133 86.2 5,133 86.8

Telephone and Distributed Communication Systems 1,539 88.4 1,539 84.8

Traffic Management 646 89.9 646 88.7

Utilities Systems 1,220 86.8 1,220 83.9

Vehicle and Vehicular Equipment Maintenance 1,836 96.7 1,836 94.2

Vehicle Operations 1,089 85.0 1,089 89.2

Weather 502 83.1 502 82.9

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 123 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

506 101.4 506 96.2 508 88.2 512 89.5

297 78.5 297 79.5 336 85.7 344 88.1

444 96.6 444 93.9 396 92.9 398 88.9

261 88.5 261 82.8 265 87.2 195 108.2

277 92.4 277 80.1 280 87.5 259 89.6

1,807 96.0 1,807 93.4 1,789 91.2 1,771 91.0

17 58.8 17 52.9 36 47.2 60 46.7

673 80.8 673 85.3 699 92.3 727 92.3

190 87.9 190 87.9 189 89.9 190 82.6

122 86.9 122 91.8 111 104.5 149 76.5

1,002 94.7 1002 90.0 1,004 84.8 982 84.1

2,550 102.0 2,550 98.2 2,476 99.8 2,486 98.6

314 90.1 314 90.8 328 84.5 295 90.5

674 89.9 674 94.1 689 90.9 726 88.3

2,565 105.2 2,565 99.5 2,566 97.5 2,560 94.8

63 85.7 63 90.5 70 92.9 76 89.5

858 93.8 858 88.9 866 87.2 857 87.0

5 0.0 5 20.0 8 25.0 12 33.3

321 87.2 321 86.0 326 89.3 328 86.9

5,318 91.8 4,660 92.0 4,574 92.4 4,577 93.0

1,508 92.6 1,508 87.1 1,482 85.9 1,476 82.0

635 95.9 635 98.7 637 97.0 643 96.0

1,203 88.0 1,203 85.7 1,213 82.2 1,205 82.8

1,770 99.8 1,770 94.5 1,711 94.9 1,710 93.3

995 101.9 995 94.5 959 94.5 968 91.5

506 98.0 506 95.3 493 92.1 493 92.9

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 124 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 32: Air Force Reserve’s Consistently Overfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Aerospace Control and Warning Systems 7 414.3 7 457.1

Air Traffic Control 24 241.7 25 232.0

Airborne Communications and Electronics Systems 56 105.4 56 112.5

Aircraft Armament Systems 614 118.2 580 120.2

Aircrew Life Support 369 105.7 381 111.5

Avionics Test Station and Components 68 145.6 76 132.9

Communication Systems 263 126.6 272 121.0

Communication, Network, Switching and Cryptologic Systems 162 116.7 286 109.8

Communication-Computer Systems Control 39 151.3 46 139.1

Communications Signals Intelligence 34 252.9 35 220.0

Communications-Computer Systems Planning and 

Implementation 5 160.0 6 100.0

Cryptologic Linguist 89 150.6 60 148.3

Dental 225 136.0 219 135.6

Diagnostic Imaging 82 170.7 82 159.8

Electrical 947 93.5 922 102.6

Engineering 167 121.0 179 114.5

Fire Protection 1,008 112.5 1,019 118.7

Ground Radar Systems 8 350.0 8 362.5

Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration 389 118.0 397 115.9

Information Management 1,920 111.8 1,932 112.3

Medical Laboratory 265 109.1 246 116.3

Personnel 1,546 101.9 1,393 115.9

Physical Medicine 13 246.2 11 263.6

Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory 1 4,100.0 2 1,600.0

Public Health 87 101.1 76 111.8

Radio Communications Systems 264 127.7 254 125.2

Security Forces 3,471 119.6 3,479 122.7

Services 1,168 108.2 1,193 107.1

Supply Management 1,468 121.5 1,460 120.7

Surgical Service 128 107.8 126 118.3

Tactical Aircraft Avionics Systems 1,095 118.5 1,088 119.1
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 125 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

4 600.0 4 425.0 10 260.0 36 75.0

28 185.7 23 200.0 23 165.2 24 170.8

59 100.0 50 108.0 50 110.0 49 106.1

580 123.8 571 117.2 579 111.4 579 119.2

378 123.5 379 127.2 389 128.0 396 124.2

80 130.0 171 163.2 193 133.7 206 115.0

300 110.3 297 113.8 299 117.1 290 127.2

303 110.2 309 106.1 311 101.6 274 112.4

44 150.0 49 140.8 60 135.0 84 116.7

30 233.3 36 161.1 30 150.0 30 173.3

4 250.0 2 150.0 1 300.0 1 300.0

62 127.4 66 134.8 61 137.7 61 139.3

222 150.5 226 144.7 342 101.2 339 111.8

82 178.0 83 160.2 86 140.7 84 136.9

910 110.2 906 107.6 903 107.0 815 121.2

189 114.8 179 119.6 184 112.0 224 94.2

1,051 122.5 1,087 111.1 1,111 109.2 1,104 113.6

8 300.0 7 314.3 8 262.5 12 216.7

404 115.6 404 113.9 402 114.4 398 119.6

1,929 115.3 1,955 113.0 1,908 116.1 1,923 113.2

246 109.8 210 115.7 215 115.8 213 123.9

1,361 122.0 1,417 117.4 1,463 112.5 1,481 115.2

11 263.6 13 223.1 13 192.3 13 153.8

2 1,250.0 1 1,300.0 2 1,000.0 2 1,200.0

80 120.0 79 160.8 103 113.6 102 114.7

235 135.3 193 152.3 191 141.4 188 136.7

3,436 130.8 3,476 118.6 3,467 116.1 3,530 118.7

1,202 111.0 1,215 114.3 1,200 115.9 1,197 117.0

1,412 123.9 1,422 116.4 1,418 114.0 1,303 120.9

126 126.2 101 150.5 118 124.6 77 167.5

1,142 117.2 1,147 114.0 1,100 120.3 1,125 121.6
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 126 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Telephone and Distributed Communication Systems 56 183.9 57 186.0

Traffic Management 355 100.0 353 109.9

Vehicle and Vehicular Equipment Maintenance 394 111.4 394 117.0

Vehicle Operations 387 108.0 381 117.8

Visual Information Services 171 90.6 174 105.7

Weather 41 158.5 43 144.2

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 127 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

80 137.5 83 141.0 89 130.3 74 159.5

349 120.6 356 114.6 341 119.6 343 120.4

400 117.5 410 118.0 411 115.8 410 119.8

383 120.1 372 125.3 372 123.7 374 118.7

169 119.5 167 106.0 163 108.0 162 109.3

43 130.2 42 111.9 49 106.1 79 79.7

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 128 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Table 33: Air Force Reserve’s Consistently Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Aerospace Maintenance 5,030 91.8 5,086 91.2

Aerospace Systems 5,026 95.9 5,040 95.5

Air Transportation 7,176 82.6 7,028 88.6

Aircraft Loadmaster 1,300 97.8 1,311 96.0

Biomedical Equipment 126 70.6 137 73.7

Career Assistance Advisor 189 4.8

Chaplain Assistant 174 81.6 175 77.7

Command Post 336 81.5 336 87.2

Contracting 48 91.7 46 84.8

Courier 28 78.6 28 64.3

Diet Therapy 114 82.5 115 72.2

Education and Training 584 76.0 587 79.9

Electronic Signals Intelligence Exploitation 48 85.4 53 79.2

Electronic System Security Assessment 57 78.9 57 93.0

Explosive Ordnance Disposal 259 42.9 257 55.6

First Sergeant 404 88.9 431 83.1

Historian 55 50.9 56 50.0

Imagery Analysis 224 40.6 214 44.4

In-flight Refueling 264 91.3 268 91.8

Intelligence Applications 712 57.7 711 64.3

Linguist Debriefer 45 26.7 20 45.0

Logistics Plans 229 62.4 235 60.0

Maintenance Management Analyst 103 99.0 105 81.0

Maintenance Production 209 91.9 214 86.4

Military Equal Opportunity 49 75.5 50 78.0

Military Training Instructor 91 44.0 83 51.8

Military Training Leader 75 65.3 75 53.3

Munitions Systems 647 86.9 646 90.2

Operations Management 117 94.9 124 88.7

Optometry 60 80.0 58 77.6

Paralegal 264 78.4 270 77.4

Pararescue 155 61.9 156 62.2
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 129 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

5,096 93.7 7,002 89.8 6,770 92.8 6,631 97.3

4,993 99.9 5,020 94.3 4,810 98.0 4,699 103.2

7,012 93.3 7,013 90.4 7,009 90.5 7,004 90.2

1,289 101.9 1,343 96.9 1,306 99.5 1,285 98.5

139 79.9 123 99.2 142 93.7 129 102.3

190 73.2 193 89.6 193 93.3 193 90.7

174 84.5 171 78.4 170 91.8 168 94.6

298 109.1 386 82.1 400 82.3 404 89.4

47 72.3 47 74.5 52 63.5 53 71.7

31 67.7 32 96.9 28 89.3 28 67.9

115 78.3 96 90.6 101 83.2 100 83.0

571 81.1 580 77.1 572 77.4 572 80.1

52 86.5 51 70.6 44 72.7 29 110.3

58 91.4 62 95.2 61 90.2 61 101.6

235 68.5 235 72.8 237 71.7 236 77.5

428 87.6 513 79.7 518 88.8 518 86.5

58 50.0 60 61.7 61 70.5 61 70.5

181 55.2 185 48.1 187 49.7 181 58.6

270 98.5 285 92.3 301 93.4 316 94.3

697 76.0 684 76.3 683 76.9 675 80.4

20 45.0 20 55.0 18 44.4 16 43.8

236 61.9 247 62.8 246 66.3 250 70.4

104 83.7 104 87.5 123 87.0 128 89.1

208 88.9 209 83.3 190 85.8 194 88.1

50 80.0 51 62.7 51 72.5 51 74.5

73 54.8 76 69.7 77 57.1 29 134.5

73 63.0 74 85.1 90 72.2 79 69.6

646 92.0 638 92.9 628 95.1 630 100.8

126 87.3 128 93.0 126 99.2 128 96.1

58 77.6 56 96.4 126 50.8 126 62.7

269 85.1 272 82.0 273 87.2 273 82.4

121 72.7 120 67.5 120 73.3 120 73.3
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 130 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Source: GAO analysis of DOD data.

Professional Military Education Instructor 5 80.0 5 80.0

Postal Specialist 15 86.7 15 53.3

Readiness 289 63.0 289 72.7

Safety 121 60.3 120 65.0

Special Investigations 244 87.7 249 91.6

Structural 528 90.0 526 93.3

Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape 1 300.0 10 60.0

Utilities Systems 634 86.4 607 92.1

(Continued From Previous Page)

Occupational specialty title

2000 2001

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Appendix IV

Active, Reserve, and National Guard 

Components’ Consistently Over- and 

Underfilled Occupational Specialties

Page 131 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

5 40.0 5 100.0 9 77.8 10 80.0

15 53.3 16 62.5 17 58.8 13 53.8

284 90.1 281 89.0 277 96.8 288 95.5

122 69.7 128 74.2 130 72.3 130 70.8

249 93.6 248 89.1 248 69.0 248 66.1

534 95.1 533 94.0 533 93.8 484 106.6

9 55.6 12 25.0 24 20.8 29 34.5

602 98.2 603 99.2 605 94.9 687 84.4

2002 2003 2004 2005

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled

Authorized

level

Percentage

filled
Page 132 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Appendix V

Comments from the Department of Defense ApendxiV
Appendix V

Comments from the Department of Defense

Page 133 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel
Appendix V

Comments from the Department of Defense

Page 134 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel
Appendix V

Comments from the Department of Defense

Page 135 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel
Page 136 GAO-06-134 Military Personnel

Appendix VI

GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments ApendxiVI

GAO Contact Derek Stewart, (202) 512-5559 (stewartd@gao.gov)

Acknowledgments In addition to the individual named above, David E. Moser, Assistant 

Director; Michael A. Brown II; Jonathan Clark; Alissa H. Czyz; James A. 

Driggins; Joseph J. Faley; Neil D. Feldman; Ronald L. Fleshman; Shvetal 

Khanna; Marie A. Mak; Maewanda L. Michael-Jackson; Christopher R. 

Miller; Hilary L. Murrish; Brian D. Pegram; James W. Pearce; and Terry L. 

Richardson made key contributions to this report.

(350633)
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